Ultima
by Shantel Lukasik
Summary: When Ava comes to the Xavier Institute, she begins a new life. But why are very powerful mutants so intent on having her on their side? With the power to use the abilities of mutants she meets, will her life ever be normal? Kurt/NightcrawlerxOC
1. Chapter 1

The beginning of my new life started with me running for my life. Why? Because I had run away from home to save my single and alcoholic mother from getting kidnapped or killed for having a mutant daughter. I was constantly being tracked down by other mutants. Some tried to be persuasive to get me to come with them, while others took a more aggressive approach, like the three that were chasing me. I don't understand why they want me to come with them, but I don't want to find out.

"Lance, I'll block this side of the fence," a deep voice said.

"Fine. Quicksilver, you go around the other side; I'll keep on her tail."

The three would have caught up to me long before now if I hadn't taken in their powers. Quicksilver's power came in handy the most. I was speeding through the alleyways at over 100 miles per hour thanks to him. Leaping over the metal fence dividing the alley, I crashed into something on the other side.

"You didn't think you could outrun me with my own power, did you?" a boy with ivory colored hair laughed.

I wound up and punched him. He went flying through the air and landed in a batch of trash cans on the left side of the wall quite a few feet from where we had been standing. The guy went silent as a guy with shoulder length brown hair reached the fence on the other side.

"She got your power, Blob!" he called back as a huge overweight guy appeared on the scene.

I took off running down the alleyway. I was almost out when I crashed into someone else. Not my day, at all. Looking down, I found that I had run over someone who was blue and fuzzy, so I did what any normal person would do.

"AHHHH!"

I leapt to my feet as the person….thing….animal….rubbed their head.

"Ow! Didn't see that coming…"

The voice was male with a German accent. The "boy" looked up and stared at her for a minute.

"Oh, hey! You're her! I've been looking for you."

"Shit!"

I moved to run, but the "boy" grabbed my wrist.

"Wait, wait, wait. I'm good! I swear. Let me help you get out of here. We don't want _them_ to get you."

Looking behind me, I saw the three boys I'd been trying to avoid where coming up pretty fast, and the fastest boy looked ready for payback. The guy, Lance, seemed to notice that I wasn't alone.

"It's Kurt! Get her before he does."

Kurt got up off the ground and grabbed my other hand. Before I knew it I was in a well kept green yard that was huge. To my right was a huge building that I recalled as the Xavior Institute. There were kids everywhere around the yard. Suddenly, a sharp pain went through my head and everything went black.

-Ava. Wake up, Ava.-

"Mmnn, go awaaay," I responded tiredly to the voice in my head.

-Ava, you must wake up.-

I opened my eyes, only to be blinded by the light flowing through a huge window. I turned away and rubbed my eyes. Opening them again, I saw a bald guy in a wheelchair watching me patiently. Behind him were two girls, one with red hair, and the other with dark skin and white hair. Off behind _them_ was the blue guy from before, Kurt. He was staring at me in awe, which confused me. I sat up really fast and jumped out of the bed.

"Where am I? Who are you? How'd I get here?"

"Relax, Miss Donovan, you are at the Xavier Institute. I am Professor Xavier. This is Storm, Jean, and Kurt. We want to help you."

His was the voice that had been in my head. I looked around at all of them, unsure if they were telling the truth or not. I looked at Kurt, who was still staring at me.

"You! You're the one- oh my _GOD_!_"_

I had pointed at him when I had spoken, but when I raised my hand, I saw that it was blue and fuzzy and I had only three fingers. I ran over to the mirror in the middle of the left wall and screamed at my appearance. I grabbed at my dark brown hair in frustration. I was completely blue and fuzzy, no wonder Kurt was staring. I tugged the strands of the highlighted light brown hair and pulled it to the front of my hair. At least my hair hadn't changed colors at all. It suddenly clicked in my mind that I had taken in his power. The moment I acknowledged that my body became normal again and I sighed with relief. I didn't look very good at that moment. I was covered in dirt, my hair was a complete mess, and my clothes were torn up from running and being on the streets for about two days.

"Yes, Miss Donovan, just relax. The moment you stepped onto the yard here, you took on all the powers of the kids outside. You're mind and body could not handle it all at once, so you fainted. Nightcrawler teleported you up to your room."

I turned and looked at him in confusion.

"Nightcrawler?"

"That would be me," Kurt waved, finally out of his stupor.

"Uh…huh…wait…_my_ room?"

"That is if you decide to stay here at the Institute with us. Your power is highly developed and very dangerous if you don't know how to use all the powers you take in. I'm sure by being in the same room with all of us; you could use mine, Jean's, or Storm's powers at will. It is safer for you here than out on the streets. You can learn how to completely harness your powers if you stay. I've contacted your mother and she believes this place will be good for you."

"You talked to my _mom_?"

"It is all up to you.

I felt like I had just been put on the spot. I didn't even know these people, but they were asking me to stay. I was tired and I'd had a long and confusing day and I was being forced to make a choice. But, it had to be better than being out on the streets and get chased by Lance and his friends again…or even worse people…

"How can I if everyone here has a power? I'd just blackout again."

"I will have each of them, one at a time, come into your presence so that you take on their power and have no trouble."

I stood and silently looked around at everyone. They waited patiently for me to say something.

"I guess I can stay…"

The others in the room seemed to be oddly relieved. The Professor smiled at her.

"As soon as you're cleaned up, Storm and I will have you meet everyone. Kurt will help you get settled in."

I watched them leave before I turned to the corner Kurt occupied. I was struck dumb as he was no longer blue, but had the image of a normal teenage boy, only with blue hair. He smiled at my surprised expression.

"But you were _blue_!"

"It's just a holographic imaging device. I'm still blue and fuzzy, but no one can actually see that."

I hesitantly made my way over to him. He didn't stop me from poking his cheek. It felt fuzzy, even if it didn't look it.

"Wow," I muttered to myself.

Kurt laughed and extended a hand to me.

"So, to officially introduce myself, I'm Kurt Wagner."

He said the "w" in his last name with the typically pronunciation of a "v" that was normal in Germany. I smiled and took his hand.

"Avangeline Donovan. Ava is fine, though."

"Avangeline?"

"My parents were strange. They found Evangeline to normal so they put an "A" at the beginning."

Kurt walked over to the door and peeked out before turning back to me.

"Coast is clear. You can make it to the bathrooms, which are to the right and at the end of the hall. I guess the Professor got your clothes sent here because he said they're in your drawers, so you don't need to worry about that. My rooms across the hall from yours so just get me when you're done, yea?"

All I could do was nod as he left. He seemed nice. I only hoped that everyone else would be as nice as him.


	2. Chapter 2

It took me an hour to get all the dirt and smells of the street to get off me, but it was worth it. I put on my favorite pair of jeans, my Nike sneakers, and a white tank top with a white jacket over it. I was almost finished combing my hair when a girl phased through the wall, making me jump off my bed and turn to face her, holding my comb at her as if it were a weapon.

"Woah, like, just calm down! I'm Kitty, or Shadowcat. You're the new girl, Ava, right?"

I lowered my multi-toothed, useless weapon. Kitty seemed harmless enough and the smile on her face showed she wanted to be friendly.

"Yeah…I thought Kurt was the only one on the welcoming committee."

"Nah, he's just a fuzzy elf. How old are you, Ava?"

I sat down on my bed and started combing my hair again.

"Seventeen. Junior in high school."

"Oh! So that's why Kurt's your tour guide. I'm a freshman."

I smiled. I couldn't help it. She looked like a freshman. She had brown hair in a ponytail, a small frame, and wore blue Capri pants with a white tank top covered by a pastel pink sweater.

"So…the…fuzzy elf? He teleports. You phase through walls…is there anyone else I should know about?"

Kitty took a seat beside me and took off.

"Well, see there are like, six of us that go to Bayville High. You'll be attending, too. There is Jean Grey, who you probably already met, like with the red hair? You probably know she's a mind reader and telepath and stuff. Cyclops, or Scott Summers, shoots red lasers out of his eyes. He has to wear like, shades all the time to block them. They're both seniors, Jean and Scott. Rogue is, too. She can't touch people for too long cause she like, takes their powers and memories and like…yeah. Spyke's a year younger than you and he's Storm's nephew. He like…shoots spikes out of his skin."

I could only stare at her. All that was said in a span of thirty seconds.

"Anyone else…?"

"Well…Wolverine…he's a bit of a loner, but he has three metal claws that come out of each hand and he heals really fast. Other than that, just a bunch of random people pop in from time to time, like…Mr. McKoy or Warren."

The two of us jumped as there was a pop and our not so fuzzy looking elf stood in the middle of my room. He grinned.

"Hey, Kitty, so you've met Ava!"

"Uh-huh. But I'll like, let you guys go see the Professor and get that power stuff out of the way."

With a last wave, she phased through the wall and completely disappeared. I looked at Kurt.

"Room next to mine?"

"Yep."

I looked down at my hands. Concentrating, I put my hand on the bed and it went right through it. I retracted my hand and stopped concentrating. Placing my hand back down, it stayed on top of the bed.

"Coooool," Kurt commented, intrigued," C'mon. I'll teleport you to the room. You shouldn't teleport if you don't know where you're going. Rule number one."

I laughed.

"Do you always follow that rule?"

"Nope."

Kurt extended his hand to mine and the moment I took it, we were in another room. Storm and the Professor were sitting at a table facing the door.

"Hello, Ava. Before we begin, I would like to ask you not to try and use Storm's power yet. You need much personal training with Storm before you can control her powers. Understood?"

I nodded. Her power felt like a hurricane in the back of my mind that I didn't want to touch until I was sure I could use it.

"Thank you, Kurt. You may go now."

"Wait!"

I turned to Kurt, who looked back at me with an eyebrow raised. I glanced at the Professor. I didn't know anyone here very well at all yet, but I'd spent more time with Kurt and Kitty than I had with either of the two adults in the room. The thought of being alone with them as I took in a bunch of powers made me nervous.

"C-Can Kurt stay…please?"

I felt stupid for asking such a childish request, but since the Professor could read my mind, he knew I'd feel calmer with him there. Kurt waited for a response.

"That's fine. Have a seat here, you two."

Kurt teleported to a seat, leaving me one between him and the Professor. I did the same as Kurt, though I almost knocked the chair over if Kurt hadn't grabbed it from falling backward.

"We'll work on it," he winked," So…how exactly does your power work if you meet a mutant with the same power as another?"

"You mean like Jean and the Professor?"

The adults looked at me. The Professor knew, so he answered.

"She doesn't have the full strength of a power. And if a mutant has multiple abilities, she may only take on one of them. If she meets, let's say two telepaths, she gains more control and can focus on one or multiple minds easier. The power grows."

"Cool. Have you thought of a name for yourself?"

I shook my head, but I desperately wanted one. If I were to fit in here, I felt I'd need one.

"We have," Storm said," and we think you'll like it."

Kurt and I both stared down the table at her. She smiled at me.

"Ultima."

I was slightly confused as to why I would receive such a name, but it sounded cool so I felt happy about it. The Professor cleared his throat and attention was all on him.

"Let's begin as this _will_ take awhile."

Back upstairs, I was picking out my clothes for my first day at Bayville High the next day. Kitty was helping me decide and Kurt sat on my bed telling Kitty about my meeting everyone in the Institute.

"It was so awesome! Ava just absorbed everything. The Professor had her test out each power afterward and she had control over pretty much all of them. The coolest thing, though, was when she met Rogue. They totally bonded. Ava can touch Rogue without any issues. Rogue got her memories, but couldn't take any of the powers because there was _way_ too many, man."

I smiled back at him, as I pulled a jean skirt out of a drawer and placed it on my dresser.

"I like Rogue. She seems really nice. You forgot to mention her power made my mind reading capabilities ten times easier to use."

"Dude," Kitty said, straightening up and putting a hand on her hip," that is like, totally incredible. Your powers are like…wicked great."

I sighed as I found a nice purple top for tomorrow and set it on top of the skirt.

"Sometimes. It's such a hassle at other times."

I went and sat down next to Kurt. Kitty followed and sat on my other side.

"Because of my being a mutant, I was targeted like crazy. I don't even know why, really. I didn't want my mom getting wrapped up in everything, which was why I ran away. Not that she probably noticed. She's alcoholic and drinks like crazy, so she's usually asleep most of the time. When she's sober, she's great. But…that's a rare occasion. My dad died seven years ago. He was a mutant, too, but his power just made him really good at fixing things. He could fix or make _anything_, I swear. I got that power, but…of course he was so much better."

Kurt and Kitty were quiet as I lay back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Both of their minds were asking how he died.

"I don't want to talk about how he died. Not yet…"

I was shocked when Kitty attacked me in a hug.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Just be excited for your first day at Bayville, yeah?" Kurt said, as Kitty got up.

The two waved goodnight and disappeared in their own unique ways. I couldn't help but smile to myself. I was excited about this new life. I was actually one hundred percent excited.


	3. Chapter 3

My excitement quickly turned into nervousness the moment Kurt ushered me into Scott's car the next morning. Seated in the backseat next to Kurt, I could see Scott watching me through the rearview mirror. It may have just been my nervousness, but I could have sworn he was glaring at me through his sunglasses. It took us no more than ten minutes to get to Bayville. Getting out of the car, I latched on to the back of Kurt's outer shirt.

"What if people don't like me?" I whispered to him.

I watched as Scott stomped himself into the school. I couldn't help wondering what was eating him when I hadn't even said two words to him. Kurt looked back at me and laughed. He detached my hands and ushered me before him.

"Not like you? You're joking, right?"

As we reached the school entrance, I noticed a familiar figure approaching. He noticed me and took the time to stop and grin. Kurt put an arm in front of me.

"Keep on moving, Pietro."

I looked behind me to see Storm's nephew, Spyke, had come up without our knowledge.

"Relax, Daniels, I'm not here to snatch the pretty lady."

Pietro winked at me before making his way into the building. I looked back at the younger boy. He smiled at me.

"Evan Daniels is my real name."

"Ah."

I followed the two boys inside and they led me to my new locker. As I started putting my books inside, Kurt held my backpack open for me.

"Look, Ava," Evan warned," you should really stay away from Pietro and the group he hangs around with. They were the ones after you before. Those in his group include Toad (no one calls him by his real name), Lance, Fred (or Blob), and Wanda. They are not above using their powers in front of others to get you to go with them."

I finished with my locker and retrieved by backpack from Kurt.

"Fantastic. Why do they even want me in the first place?"

"I dunno, but they do. Gotta get to class. Catch you two later."

He sprinted off to his first period class. I pulled out my schedule and looked at it.

"Don't worry about your schedule. You're in all my classes. The Professor pulled some strings."

"Oh, does he typically put those of the same age in the same classes?"

Kurt thought about it for a moment.

"Hmm, I don't think so. There's only Scott, Jean, and Rogue, but they only have a few classes together and none all together. But he definitely pulls a lot of strings by being on the school board."

That sounded a bit strange to me, the fact that I was in all of Kurt's classes (including Shop Class) but I just let it slide and followed Kurt to class. At lunch time, all of us who lived at the Institute sat down for lunch together. I was completely positive that Scott was less than friendly toward me. He wouldn't say one word to me even though everyone else was trying to find out everything about me. When the others had cooled off from interrogating me about me, I tugged on Kurt's sleeve. He looked over at me.

"Is it me or is Scott being less than friendly with me?"

Kurt glanced at the elder boy.

"Scott can be a stiff, but he's really nice. I'm sure you're just over thinking it."

The bell ending lunch rang and we all got up from the table and made our way into the school building. It was time for P.E. class. It was a track day and the class was made to run laps. I was jogging along by myself as I was quite a bit faster than Kurt at running. Pietro ran up beside me and gave me a smile.

"Well, you're quite the runner, aren't you? Have anything to do with my power?"

I smirked at him.

"Maybe?"

"Heh. Wanna race? See who is truly the fastest?"

I shook my head.

"Aww, c'mon. You scared?"

"No. You'd just probably win."

He looked at me in surprise, not expecting me to concede so quickly. He stayed with me and we talked throughout the rest of class. He didn't seem so bad. Arrogant and proud, sure, but he seemed like any other teenager. Kurt was not so pleases about my talking with him. When I was heading to the girl's locker room to change, I could feel his disapproving expression on my back. After I had changed, I walked out to the hallway to head to my next class and found Pietro waiting outside. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed.

"Can I walk you to your next class?"

I blinked at him in surprise.

"Would you actually walk?"

He grinned at me. I was about to go with him, but I stopped.

"Hold on…I should probably wait for Kurt," I said, turning to look at the door to the boy's locker room.

Pietro linked his arm with mine.

"Don't worry about him. You'll see him in class, won't you? Need him as a bodyguard all the time?"

"I-"

Pietro pulled me forward and I looked back to see Kurt walk out the door and glance down the hallway. Spotting me, he frowned. I gave him the most apologetic look I could, before looking forward. When we had reached my chemistry class, Pietro stopped me before I went in.

"Want to get a milkshake after school?"

My jaw almost dropped, but I stopped it.

"You're asking me out? You barely know me…"

"So? I move fast. I see something I like, I go for it. And you know what? I like you."

His confidence was astounding, but I couldn't help feeling like I wanted to go. It was then that Kurt grabbed my arm and began dragging me into the classroom.

"She's not going anywhere with you, Pietro, especially not alone."

Pietro sneered at Kurt.

"Who said we'd be alone. Lance and Kitty are going as well."

Kurt and I exchanged a glance. Pietro waited patiently, a smirk on his face. I turned to Kurt and looked up at him pleadingly.

"It's just milkshakes? Please?"

I could read the "NO" on his face, but he apparently didn't want to look bad by telling me what to do. Instead of answering me, he turned to Pietro and pointed at him.

"Any funny business and I will teleport you somewhere that will take you so far away, it will take months for you to return."

Pietro scoffed, but waved a hand at him.

"See you later, Ava. Meet you at the school entrance."

He took off in a blur. He was so fast that no one in the hall even noticed him. Kurt and I went into the classroom and sat down at a table together. Kurt gave a heavy sigh when he sat down. I felt suddenly like a little child that had done something wrong.

"Kurt…I'll be fine with Kitty there, you know?"

He looked at me and rested an elbow on the table.

"Yeah, I know. It just feels weird to let you go somewhere with Lance and Pietro. Just…don't let your guard down so soon, yah?"

I smiled, making Kurt smile back.

"Thanks, Kurt. I'll keep that in mind."

After school, Kitty and I made our way to the school entrance and found Lance and Pietro waiting for us. As we began walking toward the ice cream shop, I looked back and saw Kurt staring after us. I waved at him, hoping he'd feel better about letting me go with them. He waved back before heading over to Scott's red sports car.


	4. Chapter 4

"So your first day went well?" Kitty asked me as we sat down.

The boys had gone to get the milkshakes. Kitty had joked that it was a miracle they'd scraped enough money together to take us out. Apparently Kitty had been dating Lance for awhile. Their relationship had been looked down upon earlier in the relationship, but now everyone was just neutral about it. A mutant named Magneto had brought the group called "The Brotherhood" together to fight against Professor X's kids. This was done with the help of Mystique, a shape shifter with martial arts skills. She happened to be Kurt's and Rogue's mother. The fact that Rogue and Kurt were sort of siblings was somewhat odd to me. At least they weren't biologically siblings or my brain might have exploded. The boys came back and sat down.

"Here's your vanilla milkshake," Pietro told me, placing the cold semi-drink in front of me.

"Thanks."

Kitty giggled as Lance placed her strawberry milkshake in front of her and put an arm around her shoulder.

"So," Pietro directed at me," why the Institute? You would have loved our place. Granted it's a mess, but we're ten times better than that place."

I started on my milkshake by pulling the straw out and drinking the liquid in it.

"What was I supposed to do? You guys were chasing me!"

Pietro put his hands up.

"Okay, fair enough."

It was fun talking to Lance and Pietro. They were sometimes crude and they obviously had a different opinion on being a mutant, but they weren't bad. After we had all finished our milkshakes, Lance and Kitty headed out of the booth.

"Kitty?" I asked, somewhat nervous now.

"I'm going to the mall with Lance and then I'll head home."

"But-"

Pietro linked his arm with mine and pulled me out of the booth.

"You'll be fine. I'll walk you home."

I stared at Kitty who gave me a "calm down" look and left. Pietro and I made our way out and headed back toward the Institute. We were about halfway there when Pietro stopped.

"Wanna see our place?" he asked.

"What?" I asked, surprised.

"C'mon. It's not far."

He started tugging me across the street, but I pulled out Blob's power and he couldn't pull me anywhere. He stopped and looked back at me.

"Aw, c'mon, Ava."

"I should be getting home. I've still only been here for one day really and I have yet to get used to things."

He grabbed my shoulders and looked me straight in the face.

"What if you like us better? How will you know if you don't try?"

"I am trying, but that doesn't mean I have to go to your house! I only just met you and I want to go home now."

Pietro laughed.

"Already calling it home, huh?"

"Pietro."

He stopped laughing as I put a hand on his arm.

"Look, Pietro, I'm not going to say that there isn't a chance that I would like being with you guys more, but I'm pretty sure I'm more like Kitty. I'd rather stay at the Institute and we can still be friends, right?"

Pietro pulled his arm away from me.

"Friends, huh?"

"Pietro, you're not ready to have a girlfriend. You care about yourself to much."

"Hmm, I guess that's true…"

I smiled. It helped being able to know what people are okay with hearing. He put his hands on his hips and sighed.

"Tell you what…"

He pulled a piece of paper out of his backpack and wrote something on it.

"Here. This is our address. Come over if you ever get sick of those goodie-goodies. You're more than welcome at anytime."

I took it and put it in my backpack. We continued our walk back and Pietro left as I walked through the gate. As soon as the gates closed, I was alarmed by a pop right in front of me.

"Kurt!"

"Sorry. I wanted to make sure you were fine."

I smiled.

"Good lie. I'm fine, but yes. I told him I want to be friends. I find it funny that you want to know that when you're so popular with the ladies at school."

Kurt smiled and ran a hand through his hair as we started walking toward the mansion.

"Like I've told Scott, chicks dig the fuzzy dude."

"Then why don't you have a girlfriend?"

His confidence wilted somewhat.

"Well, the ladies wouldn't be very keen on dating a guy who is blue and fuzzy and has unnatural numbers of fingers and toes. And a tail!"

"Oh, c'mon! Think of the plus side!"

"What plus side?"

"You could keep a girl plenty warm in the winter."

Kurt laughed.

"This is true."

I saw that someone I hadn't met was sitting on the front steps railing. He was covered in fur, longer than Kurt's, and was blue. I looked down in alarm, hoping I wasn't blue and furry, too. Luckily, I wasn't but I felt lighter and stronger.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"That's Mr. McCoy. We call him Beast. He's a great teacher. One of the best."

Beast spotted them as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Kurt, who is this lovely young lady? A new student of the Institute?"

I couldn't help but blush at the compliment. Beast held out his hand and I shook it.

"Avangeline Donavan."

"Ah! So, you're Ava. I'm glad to meet you. I'm Hank McCoy, or Beast for most of the time I'm here. I was off doing a little self searching, if you understand."

"Sure, everyone needs a vacation."

Beast smiled and looked at Kurt.

"Intelligent girl. I can't wait to see what you can do in training. Well, I'd better head on inside and talk to Charles. See you both later."

Beast went into the mansion, leaving us to make our way into the building at our own pace. I turned to Kurt happily.

"I like him."

"You have a thing for blue, fuzzy people?" he teased.

I shoved him.

"He's _fluffy_. Not fuzzy."

Kurt stopped walking and stared at me like I was crazy.

"I wonder what Beast would think of that."

I giggled and headed up to my room by myself. I met Rogue in the hallway. She was going into the room she shared with Kitty.

"Hey, Rogue. What's up?"

She turned and seeing that it was me, grinned.

"Not much. How was your first day of school?" she asked with her southern accent, coming over and following me into my room.

"Nothing too special. Pietro Maximoff had an odd interest in me."

Rogue snorted.

"I'll be honest with you, Ava, that's not odd. It's strategic."

I put my stuff in a corner and sat on my bed. Rogue stood before me with her arms crossed.

"Strategic?"

"He's Magneto's little underling. Sure Lance and Kitty are together an' all, but…I don't wanna say that he doesn't like you or nothin'. He might, but I doubt it. Magneto might want him to get close to you."

"Ugh!"

I collapsed back onto my bed.

"I want to know _why_! What is so special about _me_?"

Rogue glanced toward the door to find it closed so she sat on the bed next to me.

"Listen, Ava, I heard Scott talkin' to Jean about it. You're like…super important to whoever's side you're on. Think about it. You can do almost _anything_. That's like…incredible. As Scott put it…you're like…the ultimate weapon."

I sat up and stared at Rogue. Me? A weapon?

"Ultima…" I thought to myself.

It suddenly clicked in my head. I stood up.

"Is that all I am to everyone? A weapon? That's why Scott's been treating me like dirt! He thinks I'm nothing more than a machine that can do anything. And my being in all of Kurt's classes! That's not just a random thing, it's so Kurt can keep an eye on me."

Rogue jumped up and moved over to me.

"Ava, calm down. The Professor knows you're important and stuff, but he's just doing that for your own good. They wouldn't have forced you to be here. And I for one know what it's like to be looked at like I'm important to a side. People thought I was kinda like you, ya know? You have real friends here though. Trust me. Kurt and Kitty really like you. Evan's warming up to you and Jean loves everybody. I really like you, too. The Professor and Strom just want the best for you. Forget about Scott, he can be a real dumb ass, ya know?"

I looked at Rogue and gave her a small smile. I pulled her into a hug.

"You're really like the sister I never had, Rogue."

I let her go and saw that she was smiling.

"Yeah, well. You're kinda like the little sister I never head. Just do me a favor. If you're gonna be hanging around with Kurt a lot, don't get as annoying as him."

I giggled.

"I'll try."

She waved and left the room. I went over to my backpack and pulled out my homework. Sighing, I sat on the bed. What was I going to do about Scott? And how should I react to Pietro? Glancing outside my window I saw the first snow of December. It was three more weeks until Christmas. I went over to the window and watched the snow fall for awhile.

"It's gonna be okay, Ava," I told myself," Just show everyone you're no pushover."


	5. Chapter 5

I got through my first week of school easily, but then it was suddenly winter vacation. Professor X apologized to me for putting me into a new school at such a ridiculous time, but I didn't mind too much. It was fun being at the Institute during vacation time. Everyone was excited for Christmas and having fun. Even though we still had danger room training every day, there was still time for fun. Pietro had taken on the habit of calling me every day, which drove Kitty and Lance nuts because it cut their phone time down. It was a few days from the day everyone would be going home, leaving Rogue, Scott, Professor X, Beast, and myself at the Institute for Christmas.

I phased through Kitty's wall and handed her the phone since me and Pietro were done talking. She grabbed the phone and dashed over to her bed, completely forgetting I was halfway through her wall. I grinned and walked back into my room only to unphase and run into a really fat Kurt. My eyes were saucers.

"Kurt? What did you do?"

"Please don't tell the Professor. I promised him I wouldn't play with the image inducer anymore, but…"

He hit another button and suddenly looked like a girl with blue lipstick and a short tube top. I shivered from the creepiness. Kurt saw my discomfort and hit the button again, which made him look really buff. He flexed his arms and winked at me, making me laugh. I took his wrist and took off the image inducer. I moved over to my desk and sat down. Pulling out a toolkit that I always carried around with me because it was my dad's, I examined the image inducer. Kurt observed from behind.

"You know, I could make this thing make you not only _look_ normal but as long as you're wearing it on a certain setting, it can physically change you."

"Really?"

Kurt teleported onto my desk and squatted on it. He looked so excited, that I almost felt like I shouldn't have said that.

"Look, Kurt, I'll do it if you want me to, but let me tell you one thing."

"Yes?"

"You're perfect the way you are. I don't think you need me to do this to your watch, but if you really want me to…consider it part one of your Christmas gift."

Kurt teleported to my side and tackled me in a hug.

"You're the best friend I could have ever asked for, Ava! You're a Christmas Angel."

"Haha," I told him, getting that he was making a comment about Warren, who I had been informed was the angel sighting from last year's Christmas.

"How long is it going to take?"

"I'll fix the image inducer now, as that's really simple. How about I start on it when you guys get back from visiting your families?"

As I started tinkering with his watch, Kurt went up and hung like a bat from my chandelier. It took me about ten minutes. I was very impressed with Professor X's craftsmanship.

"I'm done."

Kurt teleported so that he was behind me. I handed him his watch and he put it on and turned it on. He looked like his "normal" normal self.

"Super! Hey, Ava, I was thinking while I was up there…"

"You can think with blood rushing to your head like that?"

"Yep, you should try it sometime."

I turned in my chair and raised an eyebrow at him.

"You were thinking?"

"Right! Why don't you come with me back home to Germany?"

I stared at him. He couldn't be serious. I didn't know his parents and I'd known him for a little over a week.

"Kurt, your parents will want time with you as a family. I'd just be in the way."

"Not true. They'd love to see that I've made friends. They've always been worried about that, you know, since I look…different."

I got up and leaned against my desk so that I could face Kurt at his relative height.

"I don't know, Kurt…"

"Oh, c'mon! Please?"

I wasn't sure. It would be so awkward.

"I'll ask Rogue and Scott to come, too! It will be a lot of fun."

Now I _really_ was unsure.

"Kurt, did you forget that Scott doesn't like me? Or think of me as a human being?"

He waved my comment off.

"Trust me, you have it good. And I can talk to Scott. Please, please, please?"

He looked so excited that he was making me feel guilty. I sighed.

"Alright, I'll go. That is if it's okay with your parents AND Rogue goes."

Kurt smiled broadly and teleported to the door.

"I'll go talk to Scott."

With that he was gone. I walked out into the hallway and dodged a block of ice that came flying at me.

"Sorry, Ava," Bobby said, running past me on his way after Amara.

I grinned at him as he passed and made my way down to the kitchen to find Rogue and talk to her about going with me to Germany. As I passed Scott's room, I stopped. The door was open and I could hear Scott and Kurt talking. I pressed myself against the wall and listened.

"Kurt, why are you even taking her with you to Germany? She needs to stay at the Institute where she is safe and no one can get to her."

"She's a normal teenager, Scott, not a weapon."

"She can do anything. She's dangerous."

"You're just being unreasonable. You're judging her without knowing her."

"She is nothing more than a tool!"

I turned my head only to see the Professor in the middle of the hallway. I bit my lip and looked down at the floor. It hurt, hearing someone say that about me. It was hard hearing that someone actually thought of me as a tool. The Professor went into the room, gaining Scott and Kurt's immediate attention.

"I'm sorry, Scott, but you're wrong about Ava. She isn't here as a weapon. She is here as a student, just like you and the others. She is here to learn control over those powers."

"But, Professor-"

"Don't worry about it."

I stood in the doorway and leaned against the frame.

"I'm sorry, Kurt, but I don't think I'll be going to Germany with you. If you all don't mind, I'm going out for awhile."

With that I turned and teleported. The last thing I heard before leaving the mansion was Kurt calling out my name.


	6. Chapter 6

My teleportation was a little off, so I landed on Pietro with quite a bit of force. I had teleported into the Brotherhood Boarding House over Pietro who had been lying on the couch.

"Oof! Ava?"

"Sup?"

I crawled off of him to see Tabitha laughing her butt off.

"Great landing, Ava. For a girl who can take on any power, you sure don't know how to use them."

I raised an eyebrow at her and grinned. Toad was across the hall in the kitchen so I marched over there and tossed one of her own little fire bombs at him as he pulled milk out of the kitchen. It exploded, sending milk flying over his head and him landing against the all on the far side of the kitchen.

"Boom Boom!" he yelled.

Tabitha was having a fit of laughter as Pietro got up and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Told you you'd fit in here."

I turned to him and put my hands up.

"Hey, I'm just here for a little respite from the Institute. I'll be going back home later tonight. So, gonna show me around?"

"You pretty much see it all from here," Tabitha said, grabbing my arm.

"Hey!" Pietro protested as I was dragged into the hallway.

The place was a wreck. There was a kitchen, the living room, the boy's room and upstairs was a bathroom and Wanda and Tabitha's room, which she had taken over from Mystique.

"Lovely place," I commented.

Pietro grabbed me away from Tabitha who pouted at him.

"Fine, take your girlfriend. I'll be going out and partying around town. Lance's jeep outside?"

"Nah, he's out," Toad bounced in, finally recovering from the blow I gave him," Blob, too."

I turned my nose up at his smell. I was so happy I'd only gotten his ability to leap up to high places. Wanda stood at the top of the stairs and looked down at me.

"Ava."

"Wanda."

We hadn't clicked upon our meeting. We kept ourselves away from each other and tried to be civil if we had to. Pietro found it hilarious, since she was his sister. I followed Pietro to the room he shared with Lance and sat down on his bed, one of the only pieces of furniture not damaged in the room.

"So, what brings you to our wonderful home?"

I pouted as Pietro lay down on the bed behind my back.

"Scott finally said out loud he hates me."

"Gee, Mr. Superiority chewed you out."

"No, he told Kurt, I just happened to overhear."

Pietro laughed.

"An eavesdropper. Never pegged you to be that kinda girl. I find that pretty hot."

We heard the front door open as Blob and Lance arrived home. Tabitha's voice was heard telling Lance to stay out of his room unless he wanted to be mentally scarred for life. I rolled my eyes and Pietro grinned.

"Sounds like fun."

"In your dreams."

"Would that be a bad thing?"

"What?"

I turned to look back at him to find him too close for comfort.

"Pietro," I warned.

"Oh, come on, Ava. You know I like you, why don't you like me back?"

"It's not that I don't like you."

"So you like me!"

"Wait! Let me finish."

"No, you said it! You like me."

I sighed. He wasn't going to listen to anything I said. He wanted to hear what he wanted to hear.

"Just give me a chance, Ava. I could be a good guy for you. You know you want to!"

I looked down at my hands.

"I don't know, Pietro…I don't feel like we're right for each other."

Pietro ran in front of me.

"Well, let's find out, right?"

He started to lean in towards me, but I was saved by Blob walking into the room.

"Ur, sorry, guys, but someone's here to see you, Pietro."

He turned and ran over to Blob, poking him in the chest.

"Whoever it is can wait, now get out."

"He says you have to talk to him right now."

Pietro narrowed his eyes and peeked out into the hallway. His demeanor changed a bit.

"Stay here, Ava, I'll be back."

The two boys left, shutting the door and leaving me to myself. I sighed with relief. I didn't want to see how Pietro would have reacted if I had pushed him away. I got up and was about to head to the door, when Pietro came back in and sat me back down on the bed.

"Pietro?"

"We're gonna stay here. He's gone."

"And do what? I think I'm going to head home now."

"No, you can't leave yet. We still have business to talk about."

The young man's eyes kept glancing toward the door. My curiosity was piqued.

"Who was the visitor, Pietro?"

"None of your business," he snapped.

I raised an eyebrow at him and stood. He looked me in the eyes and put his hands up.

"Sorry, I mean, no one."

"This "no one" seems to have been pretty important to have you glancing back at the door."

I moved around him and sped to the door. He met me there and held the door shut.

"You should know better. I can't be kept in."

I phased through the door. The moment I did, I was flung against the wall with a ton of force. I slid to the floor, dazed. The necklace I was wearing had been the cause. Looking up, I saw a man floating in the middle of the hallway. He was wearing a red metal suit and a purple cape.

"Magneto?" I gasped.

My necklace dragged me up the wall and I phased through it, dropping back down to the ground. I noticed the rest of the Brotherhood stood behind him, suited up and ready to fight. All were there but Tabitha, who had apparently taken Lance's return home as a fun time to leave, and Wanda who had probably been dragged with her. Pietro came out of the room in his battle suit.

"I wish you hadn't left the room, Ava," he said.

"You wanted to keep me here?"

Magneto floated toward me.

"You have such a powerful gift, child. Join us. Charles Xavier will keep you from your true potential. Mutants are the future."

I snarled.

"People aren't ready for us. You think of me as only a weapon, don't you?"

"You have greatness in you."

"I will not be _used_!"

I pulled at the new power source inside me and sent Magneto flying through the door with his own power. As the others came toward me, I phased straight through them and the wall. As I reached outside, I unphased and saw Magneto getting up from the opposite side of the street. He sent a metal trashcan flying at me, but I stopped it and tossed it aside. The earth suddenly began to shake and I fell to my knees. The trashcan was coming back at me before I could stop it, but it was suddenly blasted to pieces by a red laser. I covered my eyes from the blast.

"Ava!"

The whole team had come to get me. Kurt teleported to my side and helped me up.

"C'mon, let's get you out of here."

I turned to see everyone fighting. Wolverine was being flung all over the place by Magneto. Cyclops and Rogue were going at Lance. Spyke and Jean were trying to slow Quicksilver down while Kitty was facing off against Blob. I didn't like it. Everyone was fighting over me and I wasn't worth it. I pulled my arm away from Kurt.

"I'm not leaving until everyone is safe."

"But we're doing this for _you_."

"I know. That's why I can't let you take me away. I can always escape on my own."

I teleported over to Wolverine, who had just been knocked halfway down the street with Magneto coming after him. I pushed against Magneto and stopped him as he fought my power with his own. I brought out Jean's power and slammed him into a tree that nearly fell over with the force of the blast. I fell to my knees. I was using all the mental abilities I'd acquired along with Magneto's power. It was too much too soon for my brain to handle. I felt a hand on my shoulder and knew it was Scott. He aimed a blast at Magneto, taking out the tree and taking Magneto out for the time being.

"We have to get her home," I heard Scott say before my mind went blank.


	7. Chapter 7

I woke up with a dull headache. It was about midnight and I was back in my bed at the Institute in my pajamas of a navy blue silk night dress. Sitting up, I looked to my left to find the window open and a frigid breeze coming in. I got up and stumbled over to it and closed it. Turning back to my bed, I caught a glimmer on my dresser. Moving over to it, I found the necklace I had left at the boarding house. It lay on top of a piece of folded notebook paper. I picked it up and sat on my bed. The moonlight gave me just enough light to read the note.

"_I'm sorry, Ava. You're right. We're not right for each other. If you can forgive me, I'd like to still be friends…kind of…if you know what I mean… -P.M._"

I sighed and tossed the note in the trashcan by my bed. Friends…maybe, but not anytime soon. I heard my door creak open quietly. Turning, I saw Kurt peek in.

"Oh, so you're awake. Feeling okay?"

"A bit of a headache. I still feel somewhat fatigued. You can come in."

My fuzzy freak moved into the room, closing the door behind him and walked over to sit beside me. He was in his usual nightwear of a white v-neck t-shirt and long brown pants.

"The Professor said you used most of your mental strength holding Magneto back like that, so I'm not surprised you're still tired."

"Did anyone get hurt?"

"Nope, we're all just fine. Everyone was worried about you when you ran off like that."

I leaned my head on Kurt's shoulder.

"I doubt that."

"Scott, too. You made him get that guilty look on his face and he was the first one to go after you. He's not that bad, you know? But, want to tell me why you ran where you did?"

I cringed and lifted my head back up.

"I don't know," I whispered, pulling my legs up against my chest," It was stupid. I should have known Pietro would side with Magneto the moment he was told to. So much for our friendship. Though, apparently he actually liked me. How twisted is that?"

Kurt pulled me into a hug and just held me in his arms as I started to cry into his chest.

"I'm so sorry for causing problems. I wish I didn't have this stupid power."

"Hey, don't say that. You're power is fantastic and you don't cause any problems in my opinion. We all cause problems all the time. You know how many times the kids in training here go joyriding and destroy vehicles? A lot. You, you're a good kid compared to them."

I sniffled. Kurt put a hand on my head and pet my hair.

"Hey, cheer up. I called my parents and they're totally excited about my friends coming with me."

I looked up at to see him grinning at me.

"But I said I wasn't going."

"I decided that I wasn't taking no for an answer."

I laughed and pulled myself out of his arms. I brushed my tears off and sighed.

"Stubborn."

"That's my middle name."

"I thought your middle name was Goofball!"

Kurt stuck his tongue out at me as I crawled under my covers. I kept myself in a sitting position and smiled at him.

"Thanks, Kurt. You're awesome."

"Hey, no problem. And when you and Scott get to talk, I promise I'll be there to keep him from being mean to you."

He was about to get up, when I gave him a peck on the cheek. If his face hadn't been turned to the shadows, I would have sworn that he was blushing.

"'Night, Kurt."

"Goodnight, Ava."

He teleported back to his room as I lay down and closed my eyes. I fell asleep easily.

The next morning, I was attacked by Rogue, Jean, and Kitty with hugs the moment I walked into the kitchen the next morning. I was bombarded with questions about how I was feeling and if I was okay until Scott cleared his throat. The girls fell silent and just watched the two of us. Kurt winked at me from behind Scott. The elder boy scratched the back of his head.

"Uh, um, I'm sorry about what I said, Ava. The way I treated you and what I said about you was out of line and I had no right. Especially since I didn't know you. I…hope that you can forgive me and give me a chance to…get to know you better."

I tilted my head and used a small amount of Jean's power to read his mind. He was genuinely sorry and apparently Jean and Kurt had told him off quite a bit. I smiled at him.

"I think I can forgive you this…one time."

Scott smiled at me and everyone cheered, pulling us all into a group hug. Kurt teleported up onto the dining room table.

"Alright! Now let's decorate this place for the Christmas party tonight!"

We call cheered and headed out. Scott, Kurt, and I were on Christmas tree duty, while Evan and the other girls decorated the rest of the room. The party that night was tons of fun. Those who were leaving shared gifts. I had worked my butt off before Christmas to make or get everyone something. For those who were leaving, I made Jean a scarf, for Evan I bought a CD of his favorite band, for the Professor I got a book on psychology, for Beast a book on chemistry, for Logan a new leather jacket, and for Kitty I made a pink stuffed cat. Kurt, Rogue, Scott, and myself decided we'd share our gifts on Christmas in Germany. The three of us packed after the party and early the next day, we were on our way to Germany.


	8. Chapter 8

"I don't wanna go! No! NONONO!"

Kurt and Scott each had one of my arms and were dragging me through the gate to get onto the plane. It had only struck me the moment we stepped into the airport that I had never been on an airplane and I didn't feel like dying yet. I couldn't use any of my powers to get away since there were so many people at the airport and the two boys were using this to their advantage. Rogue stood impatiently on the other side of the gate.

"Suck it up, Ava," Rogue sighed.

"You can't make me!" I cried, falling to the ground.

People in the area were staring and giggling at the teenager having a temper tantrum. I was both embarrassed and afraid and couldn't decide which was worse at the moment. Kurt knelt down to the level I was at smiled at me.

"Ava, we can't miss the plane. I'm right here and so are Rogue and Scott. Nothing is going to go wrong. C'mon."

He held out a hand and I took a deep breath before taking it. I shut my eyes, pretending I wasn't getting on a plane, and let Kurt and Scott lead me to my seat on the plane. I was placed between Rogue, who had the window seat, and Kurt. Scott sat in the aisle seat beside Kurt. I made myself as small as I could in my seat. I heard Scott lean over toward Kurt.

"Are you sure dragging her onto the plane will be okay? If she freaks out too bad, she could blast this plane to bits."

"Don't be such a downer, she'll be fine."

I jumped when Rogue put a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, it'll be alright. Planes aren't that bad, you know? This is just preparation for when you get to fly in the X-Jet for the first time. Just breathe, okay?"

I nodded. This was just practice. Everything would be okay.

As the plane started to go up in the air, my nerves were making me flip out. I started muttering to myself.

"I'm not gonna die. I'm not gonna die."

Kurt laughed and took my hand and squeezed it. He looked at me right in the eyes.

"You're not gonna die."

Once we were up in the air, I was surprised that it was like we weren't even flying at all. I peeked around Rogue to see us over the clouds now.

"Wow, this isn't bad."

Scott and Kurt laughed at how happy I was now. Rogue just smiled and put her head on her hand. For most of the flight we listened to music and watched movies that they airline was showing. When the plan started landing, I felt the bumpiness of the ride and grabbed both Kurt and Rogue's hands. We landed safely, though, and soon Kurt was in the lead for us to get off the plane. After getting our stuff, Kurt looked around the airport trying to find his parents. He eventually spotted them. The couple both had white hair and were both beaming at the four of us. Kurt ran up to them and gave them a hug, while the three of us walked slowly up to them.

"Hey, guys. These are my parents, Martha and Eric Wagner. Mom, Dad, this is Scott, Rogue, and Ava."

We all shook their hands.

"My, such pretty girls, Kurt. You need to send more pictures home of you and your friends. Which ones your girlfriend?" his dad winked at him.

Kurt blushed and shook his head.

"Neither."

"Ah, so one of them is Scott's girlfriend?"

Scott laughed and crossed his arms.

"No, we're all just friends here."

"I see, I see. Well, let's get you all back to the house, hm?"

We all packed into Wagner Family car. The four of us were squished together in the back, but it was okay. Kurt's parent's house was adorable. It was a white, two story house with a wrap-around porch. Christmas decorations were hung all over the house. When we had finally gotten inside, we could tell that Kurt's parents were very much into the Christmas Season. Mistletoe was hung up in multiple locations. Rogue and I looked at each other and exchanged a glance that said "We have to be careful in this house". Kurt showed me and Rogue to the guest room we'd be sharing and told us that he and Scott would be in Kurt's room which was right next door to our left. After unpacking it was time for dinner. It was a lot of fun and Kurt's parents were really funny and nice. Kurt told us that he'd take all of us sight-seeing the next day. Rogue and I loved that because that completely meant shopping.

Author's Note: I don't recall Kurt's foster parents ever having a name in the series. As far as that goes, in the comic books, Mystique was married to a man named Eric Wagner (which is where Kurt got his last name) but he was killed. Kurt's biological father, Azazel gave him to Margali Szardos to take care of, but she was a gypsy. So, I just picked a random name for his mom and gave the name Eric Wagner to his dad for this story to make sense with the TV series.


	9. Chapter 9

"Urgh!"

I teleported back to the ground before I face planted into the carpet. Rogue grinned at me from her spot on the bed.

"You're going to hurt yourself," she stated.

"Kurt can do it, so I can, too!"

"You forgot a lot of monkeys can, too."

I glared at her. She just waved a hand and went out the door. We would be going out in half an hour and I was trying to practice with some of my powers as much as I could. There was a pop and Kurt was beside me. Apparently Rogue had mentioned I needed help. Kurt beamed at me.

"Hello, blue, fuzzy lady. I hear you need help with your tail."

I scowled and flicked the annoying tail around. I folded my arms in front of me as Kurt's teasing face appeared.

"It is one thing to get up there and hang from the light, but I can't teleport _and_ get my tail to grasp the light."

Just to show off, Kurt teleported up to the light and grabbed the light with his tail. He then teleported back down to my side and grinned. I pushed him in jealousy and he laughed.

"Let me see what you're doing wrong," he said.

I breathed out and then teleported. I started to fall back to the ground before my tail could grab the light. I teleported and landed on the bed with an unhappy "oof". Kurt offered me his hand and helped me off the bed.

"You just have to keep practicing. You're just not used to sending your tail out to grab things. You have to think of it like a third arm. You already can use your feet, right?"

I nodded.

"Here, you just need to make the movement second nature."

Kurt teleported up to the light.

"Teleport again and I'll catch you."

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"How am I not breaking your parent's furniture?" I muttered before teleporting.

The world was now upside down and Kurt had my waist, keeping me on the ceiling.

"Grab the light," he instructed.

I did as I was told and hung there. It was kind of thrilling to be hanging upside down. Kurt and I looked at each other and laughed. Our hair was still following gravity, making us both look funny.

"Alright, back down."

We teleported back to the floor. Kurt gave me a pat on the shoulder.

"We'll work on it, okay?"

"Sure."

"Now let's get going to the mall."

We walked to the mall, which took only about ten minutes. It felt really cool to be in another country. We went into every store just for fun and Rogue and I went crazy on the clothes shopping. Scott and Kurt tried to be manly by carrying all the bags, but they were soon getting severely weighed down. After going to all the stores, we decided we would get some food from the food court. Kurt and I went ahead since Rogue wanted to go back to the music store and get another CD and Scott decided to go with her. After we got our food, we sat down and began eating.

"It feels great to be able to go out like this," Kurt said, biting into his burger.

I blinked at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean with friends. I was never able to go out of the house really. I hadn't even been to this mall until my parents brought my last December. It's even better that all of you guys are here with me."

His comment made me feel a sad for him.

"You have no German friends?"

Kurt shook his head as he sipped his soda.

"Blue and fuzzy, Ava. Blue and fuzzy."

He was about to take another bite of his burger, but noticed the look on my face.

"Aw, Ava, don't be sad! It makes me really appreciate having friends like you."

I placed a hand on his arm.

"That's sweet, Kurt, but…I like you the way you are. Blue and fuzzy isn't a bad thing. And you have a kick-ass tail that I can't even _use_ right."

Kurt leaned his head against mine and smiled at me.

"Thanks."

I noticed Kurt look down my face before jumping back up to my eyes. Kurt was about to say something when Scott placed the bags he was carrying on the table.

"Hey, Rogue and I are going to get our food. Just setting the bags down. Uh, did I interrupt something?"

His eyebrow was raised at us, a small smirk playing at his lips. Kurt and I grabbed our lunches.

"No," we answered in unison.

The two of us looked at each other and laughed. Scott shrugged.

"Okay."

After we got back to the Wagner Household, we were surprised to see bags packed and snowboarding and skiing equipment in the living room. Kurt called out for his parents and they appeared from the kitchen.

"Are we going skiing?"

"Oh no, dear. Your father and I are the day after Christmas. We're just getting prepared as tomorrow is Christmas Eve and all. You and your friends can take care of yourselves, right?"

Rogue and I raised an eyebrow at each other. It was an odd thing for parents to do, we thought, but we couldn't really judge considering our home lives. Kurt looked extremely excited though.

"Of course we can! Right, guys?"

We all murmured our skeptical agreement. We had fun the rest of the day sledding on the small hill in Kurt's backyard. We were all impatiently waiting for it to be Christmas day, though. The next day was full of watching Christmas movies with everyone which was loads of fun. We played board games between movies and got to know each other a whole lot better. That night I was so keyed up for it to be Christmas, I couldn't sleep. I pulled my bathrobe over my night dress and snuck downstairs. There was light coming from the living room. When I got there, I found the fireplace had been lit and a silhouette was before it. I moved into the living room and found it to be Kurt, sitting beside a thermos and holding a mug in his hand.

"Kurt?"

My fuzzy friend jumped and would have spilled his drink if I hadn't telepathically caught it and poured the liquid back into the mug. Kurt smiled up at me.

"Thanks. What are you doing up?"

"Funny, that's what I wanted to ask you."

Kurt chuckled, his tail swishing back and forth as I sat down cross-legged beside him.

"I do this every year, though my parents don't actually know that. Hot cocoa and all. Want some?"

I pulled my bathrobe tighter around me and shivered. The living room was somewhat cold without everyone else there and the fireplace only gave sears of heat now and again.

"Sure."

Kurt teleported and was back in a second with, not only a mug, but a blanket as well. He draped the blanket around my shoulders and poured me some of the warm drink.

"Thanks."

"Pays to be a fuzzy dude sometimes."

"Like I said, keeping girls plenty warm in the winter, right?"

The statement didn't sound awkward until it came out of my mouth. I hid my face by pulling the blanket tighter around my shoulders. I took a sip of the hot chocolate. It was really great.

"It's kind of a nice tradition, actually," I told Kurt," Sitting in front of the fireplace drinking hot chocolate. Pondering to yourself about the year that's gone by."

"That makes me seem somewhat poetic."

I laughed finished my drink. I looked at my watch and smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Kurt."

"What? Already?"

He looked at his own watch and grinned.

"I guess so. Merry Christmas, Ava."

We sat silently, staring into the fireplace for quite a few more minutes before I yawned. Kurt looked at me and put his head on his folded arms, which were on his knees.

"You should get some sleep?"

"And make me the lame person who can't stay up like you?"

"They don't call me Nightcrawler for nothing."

I gave him a small nudge, making him grin. I stood up anyway and ruffled his hair a bit.

"Alright, Nightcrawler, I'll see you in a few hours. No peeking at the Christmas presents, now."

"I won't."

I was about to teleport when Kurt grabbed my wrist. I looked down at him.

"Hm?"

"Tomorrow night…you…want to do this again?"

He let go of my wrist as I turned to him.

"Sure."

Kurt smiled as I teleported back up to bed to dream about sugar plums dancing.


	10. Chapter 10

Rogue and I woke up to the boys having teleported into our room. Kurt threw the curtains open, burning our eyes. We sat up rubbing our eyes. Rogue glared at them.

"What the heck are you two doing?"

Scott smiled at us.

"It's time for Christmas presents."

I felt my hair and found it to be a mass of untidiness. I put my hands on my head and held it down.

"Could we at least change first?"

"Nope! Gotta come down in your PJs."

Scott grabbed me and Rogue and pulled us out of bed. I phased through his arm, making Rogue give me an envious look. I grabbed my brush and fixed my hair as much as I could. Grabbing my bathrobe, we headed down the stairs to find Kurt's parents sitting on the couch waiting for us. Kurt and I squished ourselves onto the armchair in the corner by the tree and Scott and Rogue sat at our feet. Mr. Wagner was handing out the presents. Kurt's parents had given Scott, Rogue, and I Snuggies. I was ecstatic. My past Christmas gifts had always been clothes. I'd never gotten something that would be of any real use. The clothes had always been seasonal sweaters, except for when my dad had been alive. But I was young and got all the dolls I had wanted back then. I instantly put the Snuggie to use, amusing Kurt. Kurt had given his parents souvenirs from America like t-shirts and little globes for Christmas. Rouge, Scott, and I had meshed together to get Kurt's parents five CDs they would like, with Kurt's help of course. Scott got Rogue new nail polish, Kurt a skateboard, and he got me a news scarf that was red and sparkly. Rogue bought me a dress, Scott was given a gift card for gas, and she gave Kurt a new sweater. Kurt got a snowboard from his parents. Kurt gave Scott a new jacket, Rogue got new black boots, and he gave me a necklace with a flame pendent. I was really surprised. Kurt looked a bit bashful.

"I thought you could use a new necklace since your other one had bad memories attached to it now."

Kurt noticed his parents smiling at him with this odd smile. He blushed.

"Please don't look at me like that! It isn't like that."

Scott, Rogue, and I laughed. I put the necklace on and smiled.

"Thanks, Kurt, it's really pretty."

He sat back in the armchair and calmed down from his embarrassment. Everyone then opened the gifts I had gotten them. I gave Scott fuzzy dice for his car, which made him laugh. Rogue got a new outfit, showing that we seemed to think very similarly. For Kurt I had made a plushy version of his blue self, which made him really excited.

"This must have taken you forever to make."

"Nah, it was nothing."

Rogue laughed at me and grabbed my wrist.

"Nothing, huh?"

She showed everyone the pin pricks all over the fingers on my left hand.

"Awwww," Rogue and Scott teased.

I yanked my hand away from Rogue and made a face at them, but I smiled.

"Thanks, Ava," Kurt said, putting his arm around my shoulders and giving me a side hug.

Neither of us noticed that Scott had snuck over to one of the mistletoe hanging up on a doorframe and brought it over until Rogue and the Wagners were giggling at us. We looked up and stared at the mistletoe. Kurt jumped up and tried to grab it.

"Scott!"

We all laughed as Kurt chased after Scott. The chase stopped after Kurt's mom stopped them.

"Kurt, the mistletoe was still over the two of you. The rules of mistletoe must be followed."

The two of us looked at each other and blushed.

"But-"Kurt started to say, but Scott pushed him toward me.

"Oh, c'mon. This is just awkward!" Kurt exclaimed.

I sighed and waved a hand, lifting Kurt into the air and sitting him down beside me using Jean's power. I then kissed him on the cheek and gave everyone a smug look.

"Done."

Then using Bobby's power, I froze the mistletoe. Scott was surprised by the now frozen object. He dropped it and it shattered into pieces.

"No more jokes at my expense, hm?"

Scott just stared at me with his mouth agape, wanting to protest. Rogue and Kurt's parents were smiling, finding the whole thing amusing. Kurt gave me a relieved expression. After that, we all went with Kurt and his parents to a Catholic Christmas service. Kurt had told us that his parents would be super happy if we went, even if it wasn't our religion, so we sucked it up and went. They were at least respectful of all our beliefs. After that, we got back to their house, changed, and had a snowball fight in the backyard.

After everyone was asleep that night, I teleported down to the living room to find Kurt already there waiting for me. I brought my Snuggie in preparation. I sat down next to Kurt and put the Snuggie over me.

"Crazy day," I told Kurt with a laugh.

He smiled, sheepishly.

"Yeah…guess I kind of overreacted about the mistletoe thing…"

"What are you talking about? Mistletoe is embarrassing. Everyone staring at you and expecting you to kiss someone while they watch. Ick!"

Kurt sighed.

"I should have thought of the loophole like you did."

"Well, not everyone is as awesome as I am."

That made Kurt laugh, which made me feel better. He poured some hot cocoa into a mug and gave it to me.

"So, got any plans for the new year?" I asked.

Kurt sighed again, making me look at him curiously.

"I guess? I want to be able to keep a girl."

That was a surprisingly sincere statement that I had not expected to hear.

"Uhm, would I be pushing it if I asked you to elaborate?"

Kurt shook his head.

"I dated this girl named Amanda last year. She didn't mind the way I really looked or that I was a mutant, but…people did. And a couple of those people were her own parents. We tried to date around it because she said it didn't matter, but…it didn't work out."

"Oh…yeah that...really sucks. Still have feelings for her?"

Kurt shook his head.

"Nah. She moved on, I moved on. It's just, she was one of a kind, you know?"

"Heh, I wish I knew."

Kurt looked at me in surprise.

"What do you mean? You didn't, I mean you've never had a-"

"Not with a power like mine. I wasn't always able to hide them all. Rogue told me about this time where all the personalities in her head were fighting for dominance. You saw that, right? It was similar for me and that is why Rogue and I feel so comfortable and close with each other. My powers would sporadically appear and zap things or I'd do something incredible. It was a real nightmare and who would want to get close to that? I was…probably still am…pretty dangerous."

Kurt put a hand on my shoulder.

"You're not dangerous. I know that much for a fact. You're incredibly talented and can practically escape from any situation. You are the ultimate mutant."

I looked up at Kurt in surprise.

"That's what Xavier and Storm meant when they gave me my name! They didn't mean ultimate weapon, did they?"

"The Professor and Storm? No way! They would never call you a weapon, you know that!"

I was quite stunned. It hadn't occurred to me that was what they meant. I knew they weren't using me…but I'd still felt like a weapon the past few weeks, but now…I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I smiled and hugged Kurt.

"Thank you, Kurt."

"For what?"

"For…for being…_you_."

Kurt blushed a bit.

"No…problem? I guess? Heh."

We sat sipping our hot chocolate for a few moments before I put down the mug. Kurt looked at me with concern. I was staring straight into the fire.

"Can I tell you something and you promise not to tell anyone else? At least…not till I'm ready?"

"Of course."

I took a deep breath and began.

"I was about ten at the time my dad died. He'd been teaching me how to make and fix inventions. He was the only one I told about my power when I first found it out. He thought I was the coolest thing since toasters or something, haha. One day…he asked me to make something. Anything at all. I wasn't sure or very confident in my power and I told him I wasn't ready. He said I'd do fine so I tried to make a robot. Of all the ridiculously complicated things in the world I wanted to make a robot. I failed of course, but my dad was confident in his power so he worked on it himself, trying to make it work. He did it just to make me happy. To make me believe in my powers and feel like…I could do something good in the world. One day… my mother and I came home from school. We were all going to go out to dinner that night, so mom and I went to his workshop to get him. When we got there…"

I voice stuck in my throat. I couldn't get the words out. Tears streamed from my eyes, remembering what I saw.

"Ava?"

"When we got there…the whole room was ashen. There were projectiles made out of sharpened sticks in the robot, my dad's quirky idea, but…they were all around the room. I-I screamed because on the floor in front of me and my mother…was dad…burned…and run through with those stupid sticks we'd carved out together. My mother fainted on the spot. I…I called the hospital but he was gone. My mom lost it after that and I was sent to therapists because I blamed myself. Why a robot? Why not a watch or a toaster oven or something? No, I picked something that would cause my father's death. My mother…I don't think she blamed me…but, she always gave me this…this look that asked "Why?" I…I killed him…Nnngh…"

I burst into full on tears, bringing my knees up to my chest.

"I killed him, Kurt."

Kurt pulled me onto his lap and rocked me as I cried into his chest. We sat there as I cried for about ten minutes. When the tears began to slow, Kurt hugged me tighter.

"It's not your fault. Your dad was trying to make the robot. Not you. It was a failure of an invention. It was an accident and no one is responsible for that. If anything, it was the robot's fault for exploding."

"I can't believe that."

Kurt brought my face up to look at him. He was dead serious.

"It's true. You're not to blame."

I sighed and lay my head on his shoulder. Kurt was incredibly warm and it was comforting. I didn't want to believe I was a bad person. I wanted to believe that it really was an accident…but it hurt as badly as if I had directly done it anyway.

"Alright, Kurt, I won't argue with you…but I won't say you're right."

I turned myself so I was sideways on Kurt's lap. I kept my head on Kurt's shoulder, enjoying closeness that I hadn't felt since I was ten years old. I took his hand in my own.

"Thanks for being my friend, Kurt."

"Anytime."


	11. Chapter 11

In the morning, I was surprised to wake up to the smell of pancakes, bacon, eggs, and toast. I check the time to see it was already past nine so it couldn't be Kurt's parents since they had planned to leave for eight thirty. I turned and found Rogue was still beside me, so it wasn't her. I shook her awake.

"Huh, what?"

"Someone is cooking and the Wagner's are gone."

We stared at each other before jumping out of bed and changing quickly. We then went down to the kitchen to find, to our amazement, Scott and Kurt putting breakfast on the table.

"What is this?" Rogue asked.

Scott looked over at us, having finished setting the table, and smiled.

"Kurt pulled me out of bed this morning just so we could make breakfast for you guys today. He really wanted to do this."

"I can tell," I giggled, noticing Kurt was wearing one of his mother's cooking aprons.

Kurt carried the last bowl to the table before turning to us.

"Sit down ladies, go ahead. I put food on each plate for you so don't let it get cold."

He grabbed me and seated me down in a specific seat. After sitting, I noticed he had made a smiley face out of the breakfast on my plate. I suddenly understood why he had wanted to make breakfast. He was trying to cheer me up after the morbid conversation we'd had last night. I couldn't help but smile. It was a good breakfast, which Rogue and I did not fail to convey to Kurt and Scott. Afterwards, Rogue wanted to go back to the mall to buy some more CDs and get some movies as well. Scott volunteered to go with her, leaving me and Kurt at the Wagner house. The two of us watched TV for awhile, Kurt translating some of the shows for me if they were in German. After three hours, the two still hadn't come back from the mall and I was getting sleepy from focusing on the television for so long. I rest my head against the back of the couch with my eyes closed.

"Tired?" Kurt asked.

"A little."

I opened my eyes and was stunned. I stared at the ceiling, almost feeling like I should laugh by how funny it was.

"Kurt."

"Hm?"

"Look up…"

He looked and his jaw dropped.

"That was _not_ there last night."

I started laughing, bringing my head back its rightful position. Above us hung mistletoe that had apparently managed to relocate to this spot overnight. I looked at Kurt and he shook his head.

"Scott," we stated in unison.

We both laughed for a moment, before it slowed and we were both looking at the floor.

"So…since no one is here…" Kurt said, quietly.

I looked up at him in surprise, my cheeks red.

"We can just move before they get back, right?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

Kurt glanced back up at the mistletoe. I raised an amused eyebrow.

"Suddenly into following the rules?"

He blushed and looked over at the television.

"Well, I just thought…well, nevermind."

I folded my legs under me on the couch.

"I'm sorry…it's just…since I've never had a boyfriend it would just feel kind of weird…"

Kurt looked at me.

"Honestly, I never got to kiss Amanda. We…broke up before that…ever happened."

"I'm sorry."

We both sat quietly, lost in our own thoughts. Kurt tapped the couch arm with his finger before looking back at me.

"Maybe we should just do it?"

I looked at him in surprise.

"That's a leap!"

Kurt's face looked so shocked I broke into giggles.

"Oh my gosh, Kurt, I was just teasing you. Haha!"

He pushed me and smiled.

"You know what I meant!"

"I know, I know."

Kurt waited as I sat there for another moment in thought.

"Okay…just this once."

"You say that now…"

"Kurt."

"Just trying to ease the moment."

The two of us faced each other on the couch. Kurt sighed, slowly before leaning in towards me. Before he reached me, I pressed a button on his image inducer, turning it off. He stopped, seeing that he was blue and fuzzy. He pulled back a bit.

"Ava, why did you-?"

I took his hand, knowing he was suddenly self-conscious.

"I think that your first kiss should take place with you looking the way you really are."

Kurt looked me in the eyes, found that I was completely serious, and smiled.

"Thanks, Ava. That was…really nice of you to say."

"I have my moments."

He began to lean in again and this time our lips met. After a moment, we broke the kiss, the two of us blushing and unable to look the other in the eye. When we finally looked at each other, we started giggling and chuckling respectively.

"That was…pretty nice," Kurt commented.

"I agree."

We suddenly heard Rogue and Scott coming up the porch. Kurt grabbed my arm and we teleported up to the guest room that Rogue and I shared. We opened the door and listened.

"Hey! They're not there! I should have placed the mistletoe somewhere better."

"I told you it was a stupid idea. As if they wouldn't see it up there, it's so obvious. I'm putting my stuff upstairs."

Kurt and I grinned at each other. I was about to open the door more so that we could exit when Kurt stopped me and gave me a quick kiss. I was speechless. He turned his image inducer back on and opened the door again. He went out into the hall and winked at me as Rogue started coming up the stairs.

"Yeah, I know I'm pretty much irresistible."

I laughed and came out of the room so I could punch his shoulder.

"Kurt!"


	12. Chapter 12

The day everyone returned to the Institute was loud and busy. The only place to find quiet was in one's own room. I unpacked my suitcases as quickly as possible before collapsing on my bed. The rest of the weekend in Germany had been normal. When I say normal, I mean that Kurt and I were strictly best friends again and we told no one about the kiss…"es" and we didn't talk about it. I was falling into a sleep when the door opened and slammed shut. I didn't need to open my eyes to recognize that slam.

"Hey, Rogue."

"Being back here just reminds me how irritating some of these younger kids can be."

I sighed, knowing a nap was out of the question now, and sat up.

"It feels kinda nice to around lively people in my opinion."

Rogue sat on my bed beside me with scowl.

"I like my solitude sometimes, you know?"

I grinned, knowing full well.

"At least you put up with me."

"Well you're not annoying."

"Oh, such an honor coming from you!"

Rogue smiled at me. We looked at each other for a moment before Rogue looked at me curiously.

"I could be wrong, but did something happen a few days ago? You've been a bit…different. You and Kurt are acting kind of…over the top happy around each other."

I sighed.

"You can keep a secret so I'll tell you, but…do not, and I mean _do not_, tell Kitty. She'll tell, you know that."

Rogue nodded in complete understanding.

"When you and Scott went to the mall we actually _did_ find the mistletoe…but…after we were under it."

Rogue's eyebrows shot up.

"You kissed him?"

"No. We kissed each other."

"OMG YOU AND KURT KISSED!"

The two of us jumped and turned to our left to see Kitty's head sticking through it. My jaw dropped.

"Kitty? Why were you-?"

"I knew it! I knew you two would end up liking each other."

"Kitty, stop it, you're jumping to conclusions."

"I have to tell everyone you and Kurt are dating!"

I leaped up and phased my hand as she disappeared. I grabbed her and dragged her back into the room. I sat her down on my bed and glared at her.

"Kitty, I am only going to say this once, but if you tell _anyone_ that Kurt and I are together or that we've kissed, so help me I will kill you."

Kitty seemed a bit surprised at the threat, but pouted.

"Fine! Nothing fun ever happens around here because it gets all hushed up instantly. But seriously, you should totally like…date Kurt. He's better than Pietro."

I narrowed my eyes at her. She put her hands up in defense.

"Sorry, sorry. I said the "P" word. Leaving now. Not telling, I swear!"

I let her go back to her room before I groaned and fell face first onto my bed. Rogue pat my back.

"There, there. Everything will be fine, future sister-in-law!"

"Don't you mock me!"

Rogue snickered and got up off the bed. I turned to look up at her.

"Hey, do you know where Evan is? He didn't come back with Ororo from New York."

Rogue nodded.

"Yeah, his powers are pretty uncontrollable and he thought he could cool it down, but…his spikes won't retract once again so he went back to the Morlocks."

"Morlocks?"

"Group of mutants who hide away from the world because their powers make them look different and they stand out. Live in the sewers. Evan likes living with them and he has anger issues with those who hate mutants so it may be better that he's down there. I'll make sure Kitty doesn't ruin you and Kurt's little secret, don't worry about it. See you at dinner."

After she left, I lay on my bed for about an hour just staring out the window. Around then, I noticed a bunch of the teens running outside with a soccer ball. I got up and opened the window to look out at the kids. I quickly found out it was mutant soccer. Those playing were Scott, Jean, Kurt, Bobby, Sam, Beast, Ray, Amara, Tabitha (who over the course of winter break had decided to move back in with us), and Roberto. It was fun to watch until Bobby sent a flying frozen soccer ball straight toward me. I caught it with Jean's power and levitated myself up and kicked it. It went straight back to Bobby and hit him with so much force he went flying backwards into Beast.

"Sorry, Ava!" Bobby called up to me.

I laughed and floated down onto the grass.

"Mind if I join?"

Bobby and Kurt ran up to me and claimed me for their team, making Scott and Sam protest. It was really fun to get to hang out with people my age and play games for once. Our team won the game of course with a great assist from Bobby who passed the ball to Beast. And nobody could stop Beast. As we were heading in for dinner, I turned back to the gate to see a blond young man with angel wings land by the fountain.

"Hey, Beast," I called out.

Beast turned and spotted the man. He smiled.

"Warren."

"Hello, Hank. I need to speak with Charles."

We all watched as the two went into the building. I was extremely tempted to test out the new power I felt inside me, but I decided to try it out when I wasn't wearing winter clothing.


	13. Chapter 13

I could only stare at the mirror in awe. It had to be the coolest thing I had ever seen. The moment I had finished dinner, I had run upstairs and changed into a halter top and tried out Warren's power. Standing before my mirror, I was turned sideways and staring at the beautiful crimson angel wings coming out of my back.

"Too cool," I muttered to myself, bringing them in front of me and feeling the soft feathers.

Kitty phased through the wall on the phone with Lance again.

"Hey, Ava, can I borrow a hair-Wings! You have _wings_! Call you back later, Lance."

She hung up the phone and threw it on the bed. She came over to me and felt the wings.

"Wow, this is like…totally great. Why are they red?"

I shrugged.

"I don't know, I'm just special like that?"

"I am going to get the others!" she said, dashing through the closed door.

This was something I didn't mind her telling everyone. I was pretty happy about this. It was almost no time at all before Rogue, Kurt, Scott, Jean, and Bobby were all in my room along with Kitty. I grinned at them.

"What do you guys think?"

There was an eruption of praises for my wings. Everyone was crowding around to touch them and the boys were begging me to do a flight test. It all stopped when the Professor mentally contacted all of us in the room. We all went up to his office and found Beast and Warren there with him. Of course, the attention was instantly on my new appendages. Warren seemed the most taken aback.

"She didn't have those before," he commented, obviously remembering me from when he arrived.

The Professor smiled and shook his head.

"She did not. Warren, this is Avangeline Donovan who also goes by Ultima. Ava, this is Warren Worthington, or Angel."

We smiled at each other.

"Nice wings," I teased.

"Back at you. Though…may I ask why they're red?"

"Her base power changes the powers she acquires in various ways. Yet, I suppose this is not the time to go into those details," the Professor answered for me," X-men we have a mission. Warren has told me that Magneto has set up a base in Mexico. We need to find out what he is doing and if necessary, stop him. We will all be heading out first thing in the morning."

That said, we were all dismissed. As we were all heading back to our rooms, I turned to Jean.

"How am I supposed to go out there without a uniform?"

Jean smiled and followed me back to my room. Going into the back of my closet, she pulled out a black uniform with a white belt and the signature "X" for the belt buckle. The back of it had a circle wide enough for my new wings.

"The Professor was going to have you meet Angel eventually, so he had the costume made accordingly."

She handed it to me. Holding it made me feel like I was officially part of the team now. Jean stepped back.

"Now, put on the uniform. The Professor wants you to have a training lesson with Scott and Storm before you go out tomorrow. He figures it is best that you know how to use them before going out on the mission."

I nodded my understanding before she left. After putting it on and retracting Angel's power, I went down to the Danger Room. Storm, Beast, Scott, Kurt, and Kitty were there. The Professor was up in the control room.

"Why are you guys here?" I asked Kurt and Kitty.

"Making sure you don't hurt yourself," Kurt replied, putting an arm over my shoulder," Nice uniform by the way.

I blushed, but hid my face in my hair.

"We're going to start with Storm's power, Ava," the Professor said," Are you ready?"

"Yes."

The others all took various positions around the room while Storm stood facing me. I pulled on Storm's power and I suddenly felt light. I quickly found out that I wasn't lighter, but a strong wind had lifted me up. Storm lifted herself up to my height.

"Summon rain."

I lifted my arms and a dark cloud rumbled into existence. Rain began to pour down from it. The rest of Storms training went with her asked me to start and stop various weather conditions. Lightening was definitely the hardest, but as my power was weaker than hers, it was easier to control. I found an issue when it was time to try Scott's power. Storm had gone up to the control room with the Professor. Scott stood beside me as we found out how the power would work. Pulling on his power was easy, but the moment I had it, I couldn't stop it. The red lasers shot out from my eyes and I almost vaporized Kitty if she hadn't dodged.

"Shut your eyes," Scott commanded.

I instantly did and fell to the ground, not wanting to open my eyes again. I felt Scott's hand on my back. I tried to bring the power back in, but it was too strong.

"Scott, I can't let the power go."

"Kurt, go get Rogue," he commanded.

I heard him teleport and he was soon back with Rogue. She as right beside me.

"You've used my power before," Scott told her," maybe you can help her."

Rogue pulled me up to stand and she stood beside me.

"This is probably harder for you, but try and hold it back, not get rid of it. You have to know that you are stronger than the lasers and that you can hold it back."

"But Scott can't-"

"His is ten times more powerful. Believe in that. You can use it, but it's weaker. Try opening your eyes."

I put my whole mind into holding the lasers back before opening my eyes. The lasers didn't shoot out but stayed in my eyes.

"Now shoot and then retract," Scott told me.

I was able to do it, but my body was giving out. This power was draining my strength as I suppressed it. I pulled the power back into myself just as my legs went weak and I fell to the floor. Kurt was in front of me in an instant. He helped me back to my feet and held me up.

"Ava, I'm going to suggest that you not use Scott's power until you have complete control of it. It will take time. We will start you on regular training sessions with Scott and Rogue once school starts up next week. Kurt, please bring her back to her room."

Kurt teleported me up to my room and placed me on the bed. I had such a splitting headache that I turned to the wall and instantly turned off the light switch with Jean's power. I felt a little better with the darkness.

"Hey, don't use your powers. Next thing you know you won't wake up in time tomorrow."

Kurt went over to my dresser and pulled out my night clothes. Diving under my covers I changed under them.

"I feel like I should sleep for two days to recover."

"You could try using Logan's power. Maybe it can help curb the fatigue?"

I finished changing and did what he said. I instantly felt better. I poked my head out from under the covers and stared at Kurt's figure in the darkness.

"Hey, you're actually smart!"

"That was mean!"

I laughed as he turned on this image inducer and sat on my bed. He put a hand on my head.

"I still feel like crap," I informed him.

"At least now you can sleep and feel better in the morning."

I nodded and lay down and pulled the covers up to my chin. Kurt sighed.

"Are you mad at me?"

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?"

"Are you mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"I don't know. It's been a little awkward since…well…"

He didn't need to finish the sentence for me to know what he was thinking.

"No, I'm not mad at you. You're the one acting awkward."

"No I'm not!"

"Yes, you are."

"No."

"Yes!"

"Ava!"

"Kurt!"

The two of us started laughing at each other.

"I think we're both just plain weird," I said.

"I think so, too."

"Here."

I got up and kissed Kurt quickly. He stared at me, not expecting that.

"Now we're even."

Kurt smiled and got up.

"I guess that works."

He gave me a hug and headed for the door.

"Get some sleep. This mission is going to be awesome!"

He gave me a thumbs up before teleporting out of the room instead of using the door right beside him. I grinned and lay down to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

The next morning we were all packed into the Velocity. It was somewhat crowded, but if we were going up against Magneto, Xavier insisted that we use a vehicle with no metal. Logan was driving and Storm shotgun. Amara and Jean shared a double seat and behind them were Bobby and Scott. Across from them were Kitty and Rogue and behind them were myself and Kurt. The younger students were in the back, holding on for their lives. It took us a very short amount of time to reach Mexico. We spotted a metal dome just sitting in the middle of a forest. Kurt stared at the familiar-looking dome.

"What does he do? Just carry this thing around from place to place?"

"Probably," Scott muttered.

"I'm going to set down in that clearing over there. We'll have to walk a bit, though," Logan said to Storm.

"That's fine, Logan."

In no time we were walking through a forest on our way to the dome. The forest was extremely quiet, which freaked me and Kitty out. I stuck close to Kurt, who put a comforting hand on my back.

"You'd think Magneto would have put up some sort of security system," I stated, quietly.

Logan sniffed the air and growled.

"He did."

There was a ripping sound and suddenly a tree smashed before the path. Logan jumped onto the tree and ran to the end of it.

"Sabretooth!"

That exact mutant came flying out of the trees and tackled Logan. Storm turned to us.

"Run to the dome."

We all took off in a beeline for the dome. Angel grabbed Rogue and flew her forward, Cannonball dove forward, Jean and Storm floated, and the rest of us ran. When we reached the dome, we all stopped.

"How do we get in?" Scott said, finding no door.

I put a palm out in front of me and the metal moved away into a half-circle opening.

"Go," I told them.

They all went in. I glanced back, looking for Logan. Storm called to me from inside the dome.

"He'll be fine, but we have a mission to accomplish. Come on."

I nodded and ran inside, letting the metal door vanish behind me. If Logan needed to, I was sure he could make a door for himself to get in through. Inside, we were in a large metal hall. When we reached the middle, the sound of metal bending resounded around the dome. Panels from the wall were ripping themselves off and coming at the group of us, trying to trap us. I sent the metal flying back. We all dashed forward and came into what was obviously a laboratory. In the middle of the lab was a person in a glass case. It looked like he was being injected with some sort of chemical.

"What is this?" Jean asked, looking around.

"A research project. Injecting normal humans with the X-gene to create a mutant."

We all turned to find Magneto. Everyone took a fighting stance.

"But why?"

"How can they fight us…if they _are_ us?" Magneto smiled.

"You can't do that to people," Storm said, angrily," It's not right."

"Who decides what is right and wrong?"

More metal came toward us, but I sent it flying away once again. Magneto narrowed his eyes at me.

"Ah, yes, you. The mutant who can do anything."

I tried to push Magneto back, but he fought back, keeping himself in the same spot.

"You can't beat me with my own power, dear."

"Fine."

I turned to the machines in the laboratory and they all crushed in on themselves.

"NO!"

Magneto caught me off guard with a metal panel and sent me flying across the lab.

"ULTIMA!" some of the others screamed.

Pulling on Beast's power, I latched onto a pillar and launched myself back to where I was using Jean's power. I landed back where I had been. I looked at Storm and motioned toward the man in the glass. She nodded.

"X-men, save the man."

The younger X-men and Scott went for the man in the glass as the rest of us charged toward Magneto. Suddenly, a flame of fire came between us and Magneto. A man in an orange suit with flames pouring out of a contraption strapped to his back laughed hysterically.

"Didn't think he was alone, did you?"

A man covered entirely in metal stood off to side, ready to fight with us. I heard Cannonball smash through the glass and Scott grabbed the man.

"Nightcrawler, teleport this guy out of here."

Kurt teleported to the man and disappeared, hopefully back to the Velocity.

"We're charging out," I shouted.

Jean held back Pyro's flames so everyone could dash through. I crushed the mechanisms on Pyro's arms so that no flames could come out at us and knocked Cyclops away as he tried to charge. The others had stopped at the wall of the dome. Magneto followed trying to bring metal in on us, but I just kept knocking the metal away. Opening the door quickly, we all raced for the Velocity. We heard it already up and running, which meant Logan was waiting for us. We passed Sabretooth, who groaned from his spot on the ground. With one last effort, I held Magneto back as everyone boarded the flying vehicle. When everyone was on, I ran in and we took off. As I took my seat on the plane, I melted into the seat, feeling weak from using so much of one power. The man was sitting where Amara had been. He was completely unconscious and on our way back to the Institute, we dropped him in at a hospital saying we found him like that on the street. Arriving home, I went straight to bed as the others met up with the Professor and told him about Magneto's plans. I woke up five hours later and it was nine at night. Rogue was at the foot of my bed, watching me. I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

"What did the Professor have to say?" I asked.

"Pretty much that Magneto is going too far with this whole "making people mutants" thing. He and Beast are going to try and do more research on this chemical. Scott actually got a sample of it. But overall, the Professor says that those of us in school should just focus on school."

We grinned at each other.

"Typical," we said in unison.

Kurt suddenly popped into the room scaring both of us as he landed on top of me. Rogue scoffed and made her way to the door.

"Ugh, I'm leaving. See you, Ava."

She disappeared before I could say anything. Kurt sat up and crossed his legs on my bed. He was using his image inducer again, readying himself for school to start again.

"You're up!"

"If I hadn't been, you would have woken me up with that entrance."

"Sorry about that."

I shook my head and lay back in bed.

"I'm just sooo tired."

My eyes were closing against my will. I felt Kurt move around so he was next to me, but on top of my covers. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and cuddled me to him. I felt my cheeks burning so I hid my face in his chest.

"You used your powers a lot today. I think you deserve sleep. We would have been trapped or squashed in metal without you being there."

I smiled as Kurt rubbed his fuzzy cheek against mine.

"What are you doing, goofball?"

"Squashing you with adoration."

"I see."

We just lay there for a long time. I eventually fell asleep, but before I was too far gone I felt Kurt kiss my forehead and quietly tiptoe out of my room for me to rest.


	15. Chapter 15

School was back in session and with it came the yearly winter formal. Rogue and I stared at a poster on the wall just beside our lockers.

"I hate these types of things. They make me feel like crap. I can't freaking touch a guy so why go?"

I pat my best friend on her shoulder, understanding how rough that must be. She looked at me and grinned.

"So, going with Kurt?"

My face heated up and I retracted my hand from her shoulder to cross my arms in front of me.

"And why would I do that?"

She raised an eyebrow at me before I started giggling like an idiot.

"He hasn't asked. Now that we're back at school he probably remembered there are prettier girls than me out there."

The two of us started walking to class. Rogue scoffed.

"As if! You're the most popular girl this year, but the guys who don't live at the Institute are too afraid to ask you."

It was then that we spotted Pietro watching me from his locker. Rogue gave him a look, which he returned with a glare.

"Except for him, anyway."

We turned into the classroom and took our seats.

"I still don't want to talk about him," I reminded her, resting my head on my hand," It still pisses me off _and_ hurts my feelings all at the same time. But now I know better than to try and be friends with a Brotherhood boy. Kitty and Lance can have their relationship, fine, but I'm done."

The teacher came into the classroom and class started not too long after that. At lunch, all of us were once again sitting at our picnic table. Kitty was giggling about going to the dance with Lance, making Rogue and I gag. Kurt kept staring at me, but every time I asked him what was up, he'd just shake his head and say "Nothing".

As we all got up to go to our next class, Kurt stopped me.

"Will you go to the dance with me?"

I was taken aback at the abrupt question. The poor guy looked extremely nervous. I picked at the edge of my jacket.

"You…really want to go with me?"

"Well, yeah. I…really like you, Ava…thought it was kind of obvious…"

I grinned at him slyly.

"Well…what do you like?"

Kurt frowned at me, causing me to let out a small laugh.

"Well, uh…you're…I mean…I like…uhm…"

I shook my head and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Yes," I answered before heading back into the building.

"Yes? Dude!"

-Wednesday-

After classes had let out, Kitty had dragged Rogue and I to the mall to buy our dresses. The young girl was beyond excited.

"I know how it's going to be, but Rogue will not be wearing black! And you, Ava, no blue, you look nice in it and all, but it's like…totally not your color!"

"Joy," Rogue and I said in unison, following her into a store full of fluffy pink outfits.

As Kitty was running around getting her dress, I spotted someone I did not expect to see in a store like this. I grabbed Rogue and tried to drag her out of the store, but I had been spotted.

"Ava!"

I cursed silently and turned as Pietro stood right behind me. Rogue put her hands on her hips.

"Leave."

"Back off, Goth Queen, I don't want to speak to you."

"Ava doesn't want to speak to you."

"Let her tell me that."

"I don't want to talk to you," I replied in a deadly serious tone.

Rogue and I made to leave but Pietro zoomed in front of us.

"I just wanted to ask who you're going to the dance with. You wouldn't come here if you didn't have a date."

"So what's your excuse for being here? Didn't feel pretty enough so you needed to buy a dress?" Rogue asked.

I snorted and she winked at me. Pietro did not look amused.

"Right, that's it. No, I am here because Lance is stalking Kitty to figure out what kind of tie to wear so that they _match_. Ugh! So, who's the date?"

"None of your business, that's who."

I didn't care if Kitty whined at me for the next week that I ditched her in a store, but I would not stay in the same store as Pietro Maximoff. Rogue followed me. Pietro stared after us, but wound up just disappearing in a huff.

"Forget Kitty, let's go get dresses we like," I said, jumping on the escalator.

Rogue grinned at me and nodded.

"Let's do it!"


	16. Chapter 16

It was the night of the dance all the high school students at the Institute were rushing around like frantic chickens trying to find a ride. Kurt came into my room while Rogue and I had just been checking each other over to make sure we looked okay.

"Scott let me borrow his car! Isn't that…"

His sentence fell into silence as he saw us. Rogue had bought an evergreen strapless dress with a pullover jacket. I couldn't convince her to change her combat boots, so that was what she wore. I bought a spaghetti strap red dress with rose designs made from sparkles all over it.

"You look great, Ava! You too, Rogue."

Rogue smirked.

"I can see I'm a crowd. I'll go wait for you guys by the car."

She headed toward the door as Kurt came over to me.

"That dress is quite flattering."

"Eh, you clean up good too," I laughed, picking up a rose off my dresser and pinning it to his coat pocket," Shall we go?"

Kurt smiled and took my hand and teleported us to the car. Amara, Tabitha (who lived at the Institute again), and Rogue were waiting for us so we all got in the car and went on our way. At the dance, the theme was snow. Paper snowflakes and little snowmen made of paper were everywhere. I was somewhat nervous. I hadn't ever gone to a dance with a date. Kurt smiled at me and grabbed my hand, leading me out to the dance floor. The other girls followed, giggling. The first hour was a lot of fun, but then Kurt got distracted. He stopped dancing and I looked over to the corner where he was staring. Amanda was leaning against the wall, looking like she was in tears.

"Just a second?" he said to me, making his way toward her.

Rogue came up behind me with a hand on her hip. I was starting to wonder if I had my own bodyguard with how she looked out for me.

"Rude," she said, making a face at her little brother.

"Nah, he's just a nice guy. I'm going to go see if everything's okay, too."

I made my way toward them, but Kurt came back to me and stopped me.

"Hey, Ava, is it okay if I spend some time with Amanda? She just got stood up by her date."

I looked between Kurt and Amanda. I didn't really know her so I couldn't really find any reason not to let him.

"Sure, I guess if-"

"Thanks, Ava."

He gave me a quick kiss on the forehead and went back over to her. I watched as he persuaded her to go to the dance floor. As they started dancing, I made my way to the drink table and got myself a cup of punch. I stood beside the table just watching them. I ended up watching them for an hour and a half and as it turned out they didn't seem to remember they weren't each other's date. Rogue had come and go, fuming at Kurt's lack of attention toward me, but I wasn't about to intrude. I sat on a chair against one wall, feeling pretty horrible when someone blocked my view of the dance floor. I sighed.

"Not now, Pietro."

"Let me guess! You came with the blue fuzzball and got ditched, right?"

It was ten times less painful when I thought it to myself, but when Pietro said it out loud I just wanted to slink into a hole in the ground and stay there. Pietro extended a hand to me.

"I know you don't like me, but you at least deserve to have some fun. It's a dance afterall…"

I bit my lip and glance around him. Kurt had Amanda laughing and a pang of jealousy hit me, making me frown even more than I already was. Looking up at Pietro, I nodded and took his hand. He led me out to the dance floor, as far away from Kurt as possible, and we started dancing. It was nice, to have someone to dance with and keep my mind off being ditched. Pietro even made me laugh with some stupid dance moves he was pulling off. Another hour of dancing and I was tired. I'd heard that the punch had been spiked by some prankster seniors, so I went to the water fountain in the hallway, Pietro waiting inside the dance. I decided to use the bathroom really fast. I went in and stood before the huge mirror behind the sinks and sighed. This wasn't how I had wanted the dance to be and I didn't want to be around Pietro anymore or I might start thinking he wasn't such a bad guy. Glancing around, I found I was alone and let out a frustrated scream before walking out of the restroom. I ran straight into an alarmed Kurt Wagner.

"A-Ava?"

I stared at him and then looked up and down the hall to see we were alone.

"Sorry…letting out some steam."

"Did Pietro do something?"

The look of concern on his face, strangely enough, pissed me off. I looked away from him.

"No, Pietro has done nothing wrong…_yet_. No, the only person who's done anything wrong is _you_."

Kurt looked at me with a slightly stunned expression. I'd never actually yelled at anyone seriously since I'd moved to the Institute. But so far I hadn't really had a reason to.

"It's all fine and good of you to be nice to Amanda, but don't you think dancing for two and a half hours is pushing it? Especially when you leave your date to dance with _Pietro_ of all people? I thought you asked me to the dance because you like me. Or is it really that you're trying to get over Amanda and having a hard time?"

"No, it's not that."

I felt a little bad. Kurt looked like he was prepared to be filleted alive if that would appease my anger, but I was too hurt to stop now.

"Then why? Because so far, this has been a waste of my time. I don't want to be here with Pietro, I wanted to be here with you."

"It's just-"

"He thinks Amanda's prettier than you."

The two of us turned to see Pietro walking toward us at a leisurely pace. I looked back at Kurt to see him shaking his head.

"No, I-"

"He remembered how much he liked her and completely forgot about you."

"That's not true!"

I turned to Kurt and tried to speak, but I just couldn't. Literally. It felt like duct tape had sealed my mouth. I tried to raise my arms but they felt like they were being held down. I glanced up and down the hallway in a panic, but I spotted the culprit. Wanda was a decent way down the hallway, off in the shadows. She was using her power to keep me silent and still. Pietro reached us and put an arm around my waist. I looked at Kurt trying to tell him with my eyes that I was stuck, but he was looking at the ground.

"Ava, you know it's not true, right?"

He looked up and I could only stare at him. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't move or talk and I didn't even really know if he liked me or Amanda better. To Kurt, silence apparently speaks because he looked away from me, obviously saddened. If I was ever able to, I was going to torture Pietro till he begged for mercy.

"See? You lost another girl. We'll be going now."

Kurt's head jerked upward, but he was too late as Pietro picked me up and ran away with me.


	17. Chapter 17

"I am never, _ever_ speaking to you again! Every single time I regret it, you asshole!"

I glared at Pietro from behind the steel bars of my cage. Yes…my cage. Pietro's escape had included Wanda being grabbed in the process to keep me from moving while I was tossed into a cage in a freakin' empty warehouse. I'd been thrown into a metal cage which then had the roof of it lowered from a crane in the building. How stereotypical bad guy is that? Pietro seemed to be enjoying my temper because he just stood there smirking at me. The rest of the Brotherhood gang, minus Lance, were patrolling the area around the warehouse so there would be no rescue team. I tried to send him flying through the air with Jean or Wanda's powers but I was stuck. And no…I couldn't teleport out. I glared at the metal.

"What the hell is this?"

Pietro laughed creepily.

"Well, after your little show in the dome, my father decided we needed to be more careful when it came to you. So, he found out where that kid Leech lives and took a sample of his DNA. He made it into a usable chemical, mixed it with melted metal, had it shaped and hardened, and here you have the "Anti-Ava Kennel". It was rough finding a way to get you in there without canceling out Fred's power so…this place having a crane made it pretty simple. Since you don't know, Leech is some little twerp who has the power to cancel out our powers. Let that one sink in. Don't worry, we'll feed you every day and maybe I'll bring you some chew toys."

I growled, making Pietro go into hysterics.

"Let me out now and I'll consider not flambéing you when I do."

"Like you'll get out otherwise."

I sunk to the floor of cage and pulled my legs underneath my skirt. Worst night of my life…EVER. Pietro came over to the side of the cage.

"Hey, don't feel so down. It won't be so bad. We'll eventually move you somewhere far away from Bayville where your little cage can actually go into a house. And for the record, I think you're great but I did finally realize that I don't have the patience Lance has to be friends with an X-man. Too much work for me. I'm going to go patrolling."

He sarcastically saluted me and disappeared out of the warehouse. I sat on the floor, which at least had a blanket on the bottom so I wouldn't freeze to death, and tried to mentally contact anyone. It was impossible. The only thoughts I found were my own. I let my head fall into my hands and I began to cry. Stupid dance, stupid dress, stupid Kurt, stupid Wanda, and stupid Pietro. Why did I have to have these powers? Now I'd be living in this stupid little cage for the rest of my life. I lifted up the edge of the blanket and wrapped it around my body to keep me warm.

"Can I just die?" I asked, looking up at the roof of the cage," Please? Just…kill me."

"Now that's not a pleasant desire."

I turned my head to the second floor of the warehouse. The voice was familiar.

"Warren?" I asked.

The young man drifted down from above and stood by my cage. I stood up and moved over to where he was.

"I heard everything, but it isn't only the Brotherhood out there, Pyro, Sabretooth, and Colossus are here, and I can't possible get you out of that cage. I've thought about it, but there aren't many who actually could."

"I know. It would have to be done without powers, but that would take more time than we actually have with them out there. I know Pietro will check in every so often."

Warren smiled at me.

"There is one person I can think of who can get you out, but you'll just have to wait. Stay safe and I'll be back with help as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Warren."

He took off in flight and escaped cautiously through a hole in the roof. I sat back down on the cage floor feeling a little bit better until a thought struck me.

"Oh no…" I buried my head in my skirts," How the hell will they get past _all _of them?"

Rescue once again began to slip into the "impossible" drawer of my mind. I shivered and curled up in a ball. I don't know how long I was in that cage, I probably went in and out of sleep multiple times, but as light started coming up and shining through the patches in the roof, I heard a commotion. Pietro was standing near the cage, scanning the entire building with his eyes.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Nothing, just shut up and go back to sleep."

I jumped up.

"I'M IN HERE!" I screamed.

I did not expect Pietro's hand to grab my throat and start squeezing. I grabbed at his hands trying to make him let go, but he wasn't weak in the least. I wanted to breathe.

"Shut up or I _will_ hurt you, Ava."

"Not if I don't hurt you first!"

A blur of blue tackled Pietro, sending them sprawling together across the cement floor. I was thrown to the side of the cage from the force. I hissed as a flaming pain shot through my shoulder. I tried to move it but I only cried out in pain. Apparently strong boys equaled dislocated shoulder for me. Fabulous. Doing my best to ignore the searing pain, I watched as Kurt and Pietro pummeled each other. It was hard to keep up with Kurt teleported the two of them all over the warehouse. I gave up on them as Blob went blasting through a wall almost taking out the cage in the process. Outside the hole were Jean and Scott. They made their way toward the cage only to be stopped by flames surrounding the cage. The maniacal laughter of Pyro was an unwelcome reminder of his existence. I began to sweat, the heat around me almost matching the heat in my arm. Suddenly, the flames ended. I looked over and saw Pyro's flame guns had been frozen over.

"Not again," he whined, before Beast came roaring in and knocking Pyro into the wall so hard that the guns shattered to pieces.

It was obvious that both sides were making their way into the warehouse slowly, but surely. Logan and Sabretooth came falling in from the already broken roof, and Jean and Scott were working on keeping Wanda at bay. Kitty and Rogue came in through a wall that was knocked in moments later by Colossus. Toad flew in from the entrance in a ball of lightning. Storm flew in, winds blowing her in easily and Angel came right behind her. I was glad to see that none of the younger kids had been brought along. Pyro had been taken care of by Bobby as he was frozen from shoulder to toes. Toad was unconscious over a corner because of Storm and Angel. Rogue had taken on Colossus and Blob's power, knocking them out as well. Kitty was helping Rogue make her way around to take out those still standing. Jean put Wanda in a shield dome, keeping her and her powers inside. Logan had taken care of Sabretooth once again and was making his way to the cage, claws out. There weren't enough people still conscious to stop him.

"Alright, kid, lucky for you that I'm breaking you out."

He sliced the bars repeatedly and they fell to his feet in little pieces. Blood ran over his claws until he backed away from the cage. It made sense that Logan could do it as long as his claws were already out, but I couldn't imagine the pain it must have caused him to do that. I stumbled out of the cage as he retracted his claws and fell into Logan's arms. I hissed once again as my shoulder pain got stronger.

"Dislocated shoulder…" was all I could say to Logan as I clenched my teeth.

He made me kneel on the ground as he moved to the side of my injured shoulder. Warren came over and stood in front of me.

"Try and relax, kid. This is going to hurt."

He snapped it back into place, but the pain was way too much for me. I blacked out into Warren's arms.


	18. Chapter 18

I woke up in the recovery room at the Institute with almost _everyone _around the bed. They all smiled as they saw me open my eyes.

"How the heck do you all fit in here?" I asked them.

Kitty tackled me in a hug which made me yelp in pain.

"Sore shoulder! Sore shoulder! OW!"

She let go after Rogue pulled her off of me. I laughed lightly as the minor pain receded. I sighed and lay back against the pillows

"Sorry I worried all of you, but thanks for saving me."

I was alarmed by the biggest group hug I had ever been a part of that took place after I said that. People started to disappear in groups or pairs until Rogue was the only one left sitting at my bedside. I watched the last person disappear before I looked at her.

"Soo…"

"Yeah. Kurt's been in a foul mood since last night and didn't want to be around people. He's shut up in his room for now, but I'm sure he'll come down to see you soon. Every time he thought no one was around he'd pop down here, but I caught him a few times. Hard to be really stealthy when your power makes noise, right?"

I gave her a small smile and pulled the covers up to my face. Rogue gave me a sympathetic look.

"I know you're confused about Kurt, but guys…they're so simple that their complicated. Which is really annoying!"

I raised an eyebrow at her as she pouted.

"Haven't seen Gambit in awhile?"

"What do _you _think?"

The two of us grinned at each other. She got up and left with a wave of her hand. I rolled into my good shoulder and curled up under my blankets. I began to cry into the covers. I'd been crying for about five minutes when a heard the door slide open. I didn't turn around, but I quieted my tears to a sniffle and a few hiccups.

"Ava…"

I buried my face even deeper in my blankets as Kurt came around to the side I was facing.

"Don't look at me," I mumbled into the blankets.

I felt the end of the bed sink a little and I peeked over the blankets. There he sat, looking depressed and holding a bouquet of roses; all of varying colors. I wiped my tears and sat up to look at him. He handed the flowers to me sheepishly.

"I know you don't like me very much right now…but I was hoping you could forgive me? Maybe?"

I examined the bouquet and smiled at the rosy aroma coming off of them.

"So colorful," I noted.

Kurt blushed.

"Uhm, yeah, well that's because they all have different meanings."

I looked at him curiously as he scooted closer so he could point at each flower.

"The lavender one is because I find you enchanting. The way you smile and laugh is…magical. And the yellow is because you always make me happy and because we've been really good friends since you got here. The orange one is because you're fun and exciting all of the time. The pink is because I'm glad you moved here and are part of the X-men and the red is because I find you…extremely beautiful and…I think you're perfect."

I felt a light pink tinting my cheeks so I hid my face behind the bouquet a bit.

"And the white?"

Kurt looked at the white rose before looking back at me.

"They're a symbol of new beginnings and I don't want you to think I still want to be with Amanda, because I don't. Yeah, I went overboard at the dance, but I didn't _forget_ about you. I was there wondering if you liked Pietro better and I was afraid to step in. It was stupid, I know…but I didn't want you to think I was the jealous type especially since we'd only just started…I mean since it was only our first…what I meant is that we'd only just found out we liked each other. I'm really sorry, Ava. I truly am."

I looked down at the flowers and placed them on the dresser beside the bed. I looked at Kurt sternly.

"Now you understand I'm the jealous type?"

Kurt nodded.

"And I'm not just a rebound girl?"

He nodded again.

"And you can't just win me back with meaningful flowers and colors all the time?"

Kurt smiled pulled me into a hug, being careful of my healing shoulder.

"Thank, Ava. I won't hurt you again, I promise."

"You'd better not, or I'll hurt you."


	19. Chapter 19

It was Valentine's Day and Kitty would not leave me alone no matter how much I told her to go away. It was practically impossible to ditch her.

"C'mon! Tell me what you and Kurt are doing!"

"Who says we are doing anything? Shoo!"

"Ava, you're like…totally _boring_!"

I glared at the girl as she dashed away. I turned and went over to a couch in the living room and collapsed into it. Jean walked in and spotted me.

"Doing okay, Ava?" she asked, sitting in the chair beside the couch.

I looked at her and sighed.

"Is Valentine's Day a big deal to you and Scott?"

Jean blushed and began fiddling with her fingers.

"Um, well…we do something special…"

I sat up and leaned my elbows on my knees.

"It's just…Kurt hasn't actually asked me to be his girlfriend and it's been a few weeks and…I got him something but I don't know if I should give it to him if we aren't dating, you know?"

Jean looked at me in surprise making me give her a confused look.

"But everyone thought you two were…"

"I know what you all think, but…no, we're not. We're…well I don't know what we are. It's…complicated."

I got up and began walking toward the door.

"Ava."

I turned back to Jean to see her smiling at me kindly.

"I think you should give it anyway. You two _are_ something after all."

I smiled at her and teleported into my room. Spotting something new, I went over to my dresser and opened up an envelope that lay next to a box of my favorite chocolates; Ferrero Rocher. It read:

_Dear Ava,_

_ Meet me in my room tonight at six._

_Kurt_

"Hmm…"

I placed the letter back on my dresser and looked in the mirror. I suddenly screamed and whipped around. Flinging my hand up, I sent Kurt flying with wind from Storms power. He hit the wall with a surprised yelp and slid down the wall. My eyes were wide as I dashed over to him.

"Why would you do that?"

"Well, I didn't expect you to attack me. Who else just hangs from chandeliers to pass the time?"

"But in my _room_?"

I helped Kurt to his feet and helped him over to my bed. He chuckled lightly.

"I'm glad you didn't fry me with a bolt of lightning though…or killed me with Scott's power since you're getting the hang of that one."

He looked up at my not so amused expression.

"I'm sorry! I had only just put down the flowers and letter before I heard the pop of you teleporting and so I just jumped onto the chandelier. I was lucky your back was turned in my direction. You would have heard me if I'd left and it would have ruined the whole thing."

I grinned and shook my head.

"Oh, Kurt."

He hopped up and hugged me.

"See! You can't stay mad at me!"

I felt myself melt somewhat in Kurt's arms as he held me. The feelings I'd had for him as just a crush had grown into something I'd never felt before. It felt wonderful, yet I was afraid since the feeling was so new. I looked up as Kurt pulled away. He leaned in closer to me, but I looked down.

"Kurt…do you really like me?"

I looked up at Kurt to see him gaping at me.

"Uhm…is this a trick question? I mean….yes. But why would you have to ask?"

I blushed and walked slowly to my dresser.

"I-I don't know…it's just that…I want to know what we are…"

I heard my bedsprings lower and I glanced back to see Kurt watching me. I turned and leaned against my dresser.

"I mean…we're not dating…because-"

"I haven't asked you, yet," Kurt finished, smiling," Well, I _was_ going to ask you tonight, _but_ since you're so bothered by this would you like me to ask you now?"

My face went even redder and pouted at him.

"That's not what you're supposed to say."

Kurt teleported in front of me and took my hands.

"Sorry. I'm just so used to teasing you. Ava, I like you more than I've liked anyone before and I was wondering if you would please be my girlfriend?"

We both turned to the sound of giggling coming from across the room. Kitty and Rogue had their heads stuck through the wall. I growled at the two of them, making them disappear into Kitty's room.

"I swear I am going to booby trap my wall someday when I figure out how."

We suddenly teleported into Kurt's room. I looked at him in surprise, but he just smiled at me. I was about to speak, but then I noticed that a picnic blanket had been set out on the floor of his bedroom with a picnic basket.

"They won't bother you from in here. If they spied from the hallway, we'd hear someone point it out. So…"

I smiled at Kurt before leaning up and kissing him.

"Yes, I would love to be your girlfriend."

After settling that matter, we sat down for a picnic in Kurt's room. I figured everything about life would calm down after that, but I was mistaken. I never suspected that a friend of ours was about to go through a very trying time and that I would either have to save the world…or help destroy it.


	20. Chapter 20

"We are Seniors!"

I laughed as we walked out of the school building. It was the end of the year and it was finally summertime. Kitty frowned at Kurt, Rogue, and me.

"That isn't fair! Rogue finally graduated, you guys only have to go through one more year and then I'm stuck here with the terror squad!"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

We all heard a jovial scream as Tabitha slid down the railing of the school stairs. Amara came running after her. I laughed and turned to Kitty.

"It should be more fun since Bobby, Sam, Ray, Rahne, and Jubilee are gonna be here next year."

"That's what I'm talking about."

We all hopped into Scott's car since he'd let us borrow it for our last day. Rogue put on her sunglasses and grinned at Kitty.

"At least you won't have to deal with Jaime when he gets old enough."

We all laughed as Kitty groaned. Once Tabitha and Amara had gotten in, Kurt drove us back to the Institute. Once we were back, we found the inside freakishly quiet. The only person around was Bobby. He was digging for food in the refrigerator. I pulled a Coke out of the fridge from behind him, gaining his attention.

"Hey guys, good day? Lovin' that summer is here."

"Spill it, Iceman. Where is everyone?" I asked, pointing the soda bottle at him.

He shut the fridge door and leaned against the counter beside Kitty and Kurt.

"Jean's having power issues. She got a super migraine during classes today. Scott had a hard time dragging her off to the hospital wing. The Professor is down there with her."

"Not again," Rogue sighed.

I looked at the others in confusion.

"Again?"

Kurt put an arm around my shoulders as we all headed to our rooms.

"Once before, Jean lost control of her powers. You've heard that Jean is a really powerful mutant, right? Well, her powers went nuts this time and it took Rogue to make everything okay. Rogue had to take on some of her powers to help clear her mind."

I was amazed at how much these guys had been through without me. Jean's powers, Rogue's mind going haywire with personalities, people finding out they were mutants on live television, and Apocalypse. It was all so crazy!

"We should go see how Jean is doing," I declared, stopping in the middle of the hallway.

I turned and dashed off toward the hospital wing. The others raced after me. We were almost to her room when the Professor stopped us.

"I know you all want to see how Jean is, but I think it would be best to let her rest."

"But Scott is-"Kitty started.

"I'm sorry."

I looked at the Professor curiously. His thoughts came to me stronger than they ever had.

-Ava can't see her, it's too dangerous.-

The Professor caught my look and his thoughts instantly cut off. It looked like he was trying very hard to keep me out. I frowned and turned around with the others.

"Ava-"the Professor began.

I looked back and stopped. Kurt turned back as well, but I motioned for him to go on. I walked back to the Professor. He folded his hands and rested his chin on them.

"I'm sorry. My thoughts went to you against my will. You're mental powers are increasing. I want you to know that I don't want you to see Jean because I don't know how you're power would react. I've suppressed a lot of her powers into a small section of her mind that is trying to take over right now. There is a possibility that if you see her, you'll end up having the same problem. I must ask you to steer clear of her for the time being until she feels better."

I stared at the Professor. I understood his reasoning, but there was just one odd part about it.

"Why are you suppressing her powers?"

He sighed and put one hand on the arm of his wheelchair.

"Jean is a level five mutant, Ava. You are as well, but both of you have much to learn still before being able to flawlessly use your powers. This is why Magneto has tried to capture you and use you in his fight against non-mutants. By suppressing Jean's powers, I believe that you have only received those powers which she uses on a daily basis. Her hidden powers have manifested into a second personality that goes by the name of Phoenix. It is a very angry and very powerful side. You have to understand that this stays between you, Scott, Storm, and I. Yes, Ava?"

I nodded. I felt horrible for Jean. She had no idea of this personality that wants to take control. Jean, the most caring and kind person she knew was going through horrible suffering from within her own mind. It was saddening. She couldn't imagine how Scott must feel about it. The Professor smiled and went back to the room Jean was in. I made my way upstairs thinking about what I had been told. Kurt met me outside my room.

"Doing okay?" he asked, pulling me into his arms.

"Fine. The Professor just wanted to talk for a minute. Nothing big."

I gave Kurt a peck on the lips.

"But I need to get some cleaning done since my room is a disaster. See you later when I'm finished?"

Kurt smiled and let me go. I watched him go into his room before going into mine. I sighed once inside and collapsed on my bed.

"I hope Jean gets better really soon."


	21. Chapter 21

It was the middle of the night when I heard a huge banging noise sounding from the bottom floors of the Institute. I sat up in bed and was about to get up and go outside when the Professor's voice rang in my head.

"Ava, stay in your room."

Sighing, I ran to my window to see if there was anything going on outside, but there was nothing. Students were running out in the hallway, probably heading down to where Jean was supposed to be recovering. Something was going on and I desperately wanted to be in on it. I waited for a few minutes, but Kurt obviously was heading where all the other students were. Not wanting to just wait in my room till someone told me Jean had calmed down, I teleported onto the roof and sat there. I'd been up there for about five minutes just staring up at the stars when there was a huge crash from below. I looked down over the edge of the roof to see that the glass doors of the mansion had been blasted open. My eyes widened as Jean floated out of the entrance. Storm and the others followed her out, but she was unstoppable. I was about to teleport back into my room when the full of Jean's powers rammed into me. It was such a strong force that it actually knocked me onto my back. There was suddenly a voice in my head.

"Let me take over."

"No…I can't," I responded.

"You can't know you're true potential without me!"

"NO!"

I mentally pushed the voice right out of my head, but I suddenly felt weak. The voice had sounded freakishly like Jean's, but it was much more aggressive…even sinister. Power was filling up my mind and I suddenly felt so mentally strong I was unsure if I could put the power away. Concentrating really hard on the power, I was able to pull it back into me. I sighed as the power became one of the reserves that could be pulled out at anytime. I felt so fatigued that all I could think about was going back to bed. I got up but found my legs were too weak to hold my weight and I wound up slipping over the edge of the roof. I screamed, but arms were suddenly around me and I was teleported to the ground. I looked up into my boyfriend's face and sighed with relief. I heard the Professor's wheelchair come over to us and he looked down at me with concern.

"Ava, you acquired some of Jean's powers, didn't you? After I asked you to stay in your room…"

"I'm sorry, Professor, but I fought the voice off. I think I understand what Jean is going through now, though."

Professor Xavier looked surprised. He looked at Kurt.

"Bring her to her room. Ava, Storm and I will be up there in a bit."

As Storm told everyone to get back to bed, Kurt teleported me back to my room. He placed me on my bed before teleporting over to the light witch, flicking it on, and teleporting back.

"Ava, what is going on?"

I sighed and put a hand on his arm.

"The Professor didn't want me to go near Jean because he was afraid the same thing might happen to me and I'd be unstable, but I put the power in a reserve somehow. Kurt, I really think…"

Storm and the Professor came in at that moment.

"You're right, Ava. At this point, you are the only person who can save Jean."

Kurt looked between me and the Professor.

"What? No! Not even the whole Institute could keep Jean back from getting out, how can Ava possibly do that?"

"Not alone, but she is the key. She has Jean's power…and for some reason she can control it…"

I looked around at all the solemn faces.

"It's because I get a somewhat weaker version of the power. And all the mental capabilities I've stored up from the powers in the Institute probably helped as well. This…second personality in Jean…it feels like it wants to burn out Jean and replace her."

The Professor nodded, proving my theory was correct.

"Phoenix. That is what it calls itself. Phoenix wants to be free. To not be contained…but it is too destructive to be out there. It's like a child. It fights for what it wants and doesn't know how to negotiate. It's a purely strength driven force."

I stood up from my seat on the bed.

"Then we need to stop it."

"Yes, but not tonight. You and the others all need your rest. Hopefully, Jean won't cause too much damage tonight and we'll be able to face her when **you're** ready to face her."

Storm and the Professor wished both Kurt and I goodnight before leaving. I sat back down in bed and leaned on Kurt.

"I have to face Jean tomorrow."

Kurt looked at me in alarm.

"Tomorrow? But…that's too soon! You don't know how to use her powers even if you were able to overcome them! You'll get hurt! Ava, I can't let you-"

I leaned up and kissed Kurt. He went quiet and kissed me back. Letting him go, I smiled.

"Don't worry so much, okay? Things will work out the way they need to."

"But-"

I lay back on the bed pulling Kurt down with me.

"Thank you for caring so much, Kurt, but there are things that need to be done. If I don't stop her, tons of people could get hurt. Or maybe even die. I became a part of the X-men to help people. Okay?"

Kurt gave up with a heavy sigh. I rubbed my thumb against his fuzzy blue cheek to comfort him a little.

"Promise me you'll come back in one piece. It's not easy for a guy to find a girl who digs blue fur and a tail."

I laughed before Kurt leaned over me and kissed me again. It turned into a make-out session that was cut short by Kitty coming through the wall and complaining about the smooch sounds coming through the wall. We both knew she was teasing us to get us to go to sleep, so we parted for the night. Though I'd told Kurt not to worry, I couldn't help but feel stressed out at the fact that I was the only one who could stop Jean. No. Not Jean. Phoenix.


	22. Chapter 22

"Have you spotted her yet?" the Professor asked in my mind as I flew toward the center of town.

"There are blazing fires in multiple places around Bayville, but I haven't spotted- WOAH!"

I spotted flying just in time as a car went flying past me. Looking down, I spotted flaming red hair.

"Nevermind, I found her. She'd just south of City Hall."

"We're arriving now."

I heard the Velocity before I saw it. The aircraft landed in the park just outside of City Hall and all of the X-men filed out. Beast and Angel had agreed to help us as well as the Morlocks. Pedestrians were running and screaming as objects swirled around Phoenix's body in a protective shield. Flying around, I landed between Kurt and Angel.

"Are you prepared to execute the plan, Ava?" the Professor asked.

His voice as very grave. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought that he was worried about our chances.

"Completely."

I flapped my crimson red wings and shot into the air as Scott sent a warning laser shot at a car hovering near Phoenix. The X-men dispersed into their fighting formation.

"Jean!" he shouted," It's Scott. We're here to help you."

Phoenix sent the objects flying toward him. Scott blasted them away while Bobby froze them in mid-air. In a quick dive, I picked up Cannonball and sent him sailing toward Jean. He crashed into her, sending her into the side of a building. Kurt quickly teleported to her and held her down. Rogue came running toward her with her hand outstretched.

"Time for bed, Jean," she said.

Suddenly, Phoenix's eyes began to glow red. I stopped flying and shouted. The shout went unheard as the area exploded. Rogue was sent flying backward into a car and Kurt hit the side of a building. Phoenix flew up into the air and went toward City Hall, the other X-men followed. I flew down to my best friend and my boyfriend.

"Rogue? Kurt!"

Rogue groaned, rubbing her head. I sighed with relief and went over to Kurt. I shook him.

"Kurt. C'mon, wake up."

Fear gripped my chest as he didn't move at all. Rogue crawled over to us.

"Kurt?" she asked, shaking him with me," This isn't funny fur ball, wake up!"

I grabbed his wrist as Rogue leaned her hear down to his mouth. There wasn't a pulse. Why wasn't there a pulse? A tear fell down my cheek as Rogue rubbed at her eyes.

"No, don't tell me," I said as she looked at me," He's alive."

"Ava…"

"He's alive!" I screamed.

Rogue grabbed my shoulders as I cried hysterically.

"Ava…"

I clenched my fists and turned toward City Hall. I could see Phoenix in the distance. Rogue ran in front of me to say something, but the words died in her throat.

"I'm going to kill her…"

"Ava, you can't fight when you're angry like this. AVA!"

She could do nothing as I took off like a bullet. A huge crack rang through the air as I slammed straight into Phoenix, sending us both to the ground. My arms were around her throat and tightening. I could feel her power pushing against me with all her might, but with a single burst, I unleashed all of my powers. All of my body was on fire as if all the powers were burning me out alive. Lightening struck the ground around us, setting it on fire from my anger. I felt my eyes light up with Scott's power as I prepared to kill her.

"AVA! You can't! It's Jean," Scott shouted, trying to get near us, but finding it impossible with the erratic lightening.

"NO, SHE'S NOT! SHE KILLED HIM!" I screamed before lowering my voice till only Phoenix could hear," This bitch is going to pay."

Suddenly, I felt a tug at the back of my mind. There was a part of me screaming that it was Jean, that I was a monster if I killed her. Tears streamed from my eyes. I heard shouts and the Professor's voice trying to reach me, but I couldn't hear anything. It was just me and Phoenix.

"You're…just…like me," she gasped," Kill me. You're more powerful than I. I concede."

Suddenly, the voice changed. It was Jean. Tears fell from her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Ava. Kill me. I deserve it."

I screamed and it felt as if my mind exploded and my body screamed in fiery pain. Somehow, I managed to focus all of the mental control I had toward Phoenix. She began to scream as well and I could read from her mind that she felt the same pain as I did. It was doubled as we felt each other's pain as well as our own. And then it suddenly stopped. My mind let go and I fell to the ground beside her. I was shaking. The world was suddenly colder than it should be for a summer's day. I looked over and saw that Jean was unconscious with bruises shaped like my fingers wrapped around her neck. Getting up in a zombie like trance, I saw everyone standing outside a huge area of scorched grass. I stumbled to the edge of the circle to where Angel stood holding Kurt. I reached out and put a hand on his chest before kissing him. I willed him to be alive again. I felt something leave from inside of me, as if my own heart had abandoned me, and I fell to the ground into a world of black.

When I woke up again, I was back at the Institute. I looked around at the familiar recovery ward, but to my surprise, Kurt was sitting at the end of my bed with a bright smile on his face. We stared at each other for a moment before I sat up in bed and practically started to strangle him as I screamed.

"You're supposed to be dead! What the hell are you doing alive? You were stone cold, no pulse, no breath. How **dare** you scare me like that! You're a jerk, Kurt Wagner! A blue and fuzzy asshole!"

Kurt pried my hands off in desperation as I began crying and fell back against my pillow.

"I'm dead. I've gone to heaven. Oh my God…"

Kurt slid up the bed till he was closer to me so he could take my hands in his.

"No, Ava, you're alive. And yes, I'm alive. And…yes, I actually was dead. Not a fun time, I might add. But you saved me. Heck, you saved Jean and everybody in Bayville."

"Heh?"

I heard the Professor's wheelchair roll into the room and I looked over to see him with a relaxed smile on his face.

"Well done, Ava."

"But…I didn't…what did I…huh?"

"You sealed away Phoenix so deeply into Jean's mind, it is highly unlikely she'll come back. You did what I couldn't do and it was all because of your anger and sadness. You projected your mental powers straight into the depths of Jean's mind and created a prison for Phoenix, because you couldn't bring yourself to kill her. All those powers you had within you made you ten times more powerful that I can ever be though I've tried so hard with Jean. And somehow…you were able to give Kurt his life back. How…I'm not actually sure…"

I felt my chest. I felt somewhat different. I somehow expended Phoenix's power in sealing her, but Kurt's power was gone as well. I tried to teleport to the other side of the room, but I only accomplished squeezing my eyes shut very tightly. I stared down at my lap.

"It's gone," I muttered.

"What is?" Kurt frowned at me.

I looked up at him.

"Your power…it's gone. I don't have it anymore. I can't teleport or turn blue and fuzzy."

We both looked at the Professor who gave us both a thoughtful look.

"Maybe you gave him back his life by giving him his powers back. I have to admit I…don't understand this completely, however I am very happy at this unique event. There are probably things about your powers, Ava, that neither you nor I will ever fully understand."

Kurt looked at me in awe.

"Wow…I really **am** dating the most awesome girl ever!"

The Professor and I laughed as Kurt gave me a huge hug. Professor Xavier turned to leave.

"I shall let the others know you are well. I will tell them in person that that the two of you can have a few moments of peace before they all charge down here."

With a smile he left. Kurt leaned his forehead against mine.

"Might as well make the most of these "few moments", hm?"

I laughed before Kurt kissed me. I wrapped my arms around him, happy to have my boyfriend be alive again. We had been kissing for about three minutes when Kitty suddenly came through the ceiling. She laughed.

"Kurt! Let the girl breathe!"

We pulled away from each other and laughed, too. Not too long after Kitty's arrival, the other X-men crowded into the room. The love in the room was a lot to handle, but I never felt more like I had found a true home and family.

-The End-


End file.
